Wadha al-Sayyed, wife of captive Lebanese soldier Khaled Moqbel, protests for his release and government action, near burning tyres blocking a road in Beirut, December 15, 2014. More than two dozen members of the Lebanese security forces are being held by Sunni Islamists. (Photo by Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)

The Mercedes-Benz F015 Luxury in Motion autonomous concept car is shown on stage during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada January 5, 2015. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)

“Old Mursi woman”. Old woman by the huts of her village. Location: Marenke, Omo valley, Ethiopia. (Photo and caption by Jorge Fernandez/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“Sokolica”. Sokolica, Poland. (Photo and caption by Marcin Kęsek/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“For a bouquet of flowers”. Photographs made ​​in the last hours of the day. A goat is directed by a dangerous way to eat a small bouquet of flowers. Location: España, Barcelona, Montserrat. (Photo and caption by Renato Lopez Baldo/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“The Labor Day Parade (or West Indian Carnival), is an annual celebration held on American Labor Day (the first Monday in September), in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Jessie Waddell and some of her West Indian friends started the Carnival in Harlem in the 1920s by staging costume parties in large enclosed places like the Savoy, Renaissance and Audubon Ballrooms due to the cold wintry weather of February. This is the usual time for the pre-Lenten celebrations held in most countries around the world. However, because of the very nature of Carnival, and the need to parade in costume to music, indoor confinement did not work well. The earliest known Carnival street parade was held on September 1, 1947. The Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee was the founding force behind the parade, which was held in Harlem. The parade route was along Seventh Avenue, starting at 110th St.” – Wikipedia

Photo: A reveler looks on during the West Indian-American Day Parade September 5, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. More than 2 million spectators were expected to attend the celebration of Caribbean culture. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

With temperatures soaring and summer well underway, countless Americans will be spending their Independence Day weekend at the beach. Here we revisit some classic images from the turn-of-the-century to the 1930's of vacations by the sea, from Coney Island to Santa Monica.

Meet the real beach babes: the herd of pigs that live a life of luxury paddling in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, on August 28, 2013. (Photo by Caters News)