While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/SDO via The Atlantic)

A Japan soccer fan reacts as she watches Japan's FIFA Women's World Cup final match against the U.S. in Vancouver, at a public viewing event in Tokyo, Japan, July 6, 2015. Japan lost the match 5-2 to the U.S. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

“People and Space”. Winner: Wanderer in Patagonia by Yuri Zvezdny (Russia) A lone stargazer stares up at the stars of our galaxy, the Milky Way, as they stretch across the night sky over the glacier “White Stones” (Piedras Blancas) in the Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina. El Chaltén, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, 27 September 2016 iOptron Sky-Tracker mount, Sony A7S camera, 18 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 5000, 30-second exposure Wanderer in Patagonia. (Photo by Yuri Zvezdny/Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017)

A model wears a creation by “Como un pez en el agua” (Like a fish in the water) for the Spring/Summer 2017-2018 fashion show as part of 080 Barcelona fashion week in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, June 29, 2017. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

People cool off as they dance in a swimming pool in an event at a local restaurant during a heatwave on July 2, 2023 in Beijing, China. China's capital city and northern parts of the country have experienced unseasonably high temperatures in the last days, sometimes reaching more than 40 degrees celsius, causing local governments to issue heat warnings. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A jaguar eyes up a group of otters from a riverbank in Porto Jofre, North Pantanal, Brazil early November 2024. (Photo by Octavio Campos Salles/Solent News)

American country music singer- songwriter Megan Moroney performs at the 58th Annual CMA Awards, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., November 20, 2024. (Photo by Seth Herald/Reuters)