A male sea lion Leo writes the word of tiger in Chinese character at a New Year's attraction to celebrate the Year of the Tiger at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on Monday, January 3, 2022. The calligraphy attraction by the sea lion will be carried through January 31. (Photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A dog stands next to the body of an elderly woman killed inside a house in Bucha, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

A man cries over the body of his girlfriend, who was killed by shelling in the Kalininsky district of Donetsk, territory under control of the pro-Russian Government of the Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 9, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (Photo by Alexei Alexandrov/AP Photo)

Emily Whiteford, 18, of Maryland, stretches before her audition for the Radio City Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, Wednesday, April 3, 2024 in New York. (Photo by Brittainy Newman/AP Photo)

“Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur. The earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584) where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Portrait of the dwarf, Tom Thumb standing on the hand of a Guardsman. Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838 – 1883) was nicknamed General Tom Thumb by P T Barnum, the circus owner. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images). Circa 1875

U.K.-based company Full Grown offers a simpler, more eco-friendly way to manufacture wooden furniture with their forest of chairs and tables.

A 17ft anaconda which ate a pet dog seen blindfolded with a t-shirt is examined by Mano Bascoules in Montsinery, French Guiana. (Photo by Sebastien Bascoules/Barcroft Media/ABACAPress)

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.