D-Day refers to the day that the Allied Forces invaded Europe during World War II. On June 6, 1944, soldiers landed on the shores of Normandy, France, in what was called Operation Overlord.c The invasion served as a pivotal moment in the War, which eventually culminated in the defeat of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/filmmore/index.html

June 6, 2009, marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day. President Barack Obama attended the anniversary ceremonies in France. The president's great-uncle, Charles Payne, who was one of the men who fought at Normandy, was in attendance for the commemoration. Also present were the leaders of France, Canada and Britain, countries that were allies of the United States during the War.http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fgw-obama-france7-2009jun07,0,2417898.story

After Hitler began strengthening the German fortress at Normandy, Allied Forces conceived a plan to invade France by crossing the English Channel.http://www.britannica.com/dday/article-236171 Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served as Supreme Allied Commander, chose June 6 as the date of attack.c The meaning of the "D" in "D-Day" is somewhat unclear. Some have speculated that the letter stands for "decisive" or "disembarkation", but the initial may be just be an abbreviation for "day".http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_info.html

According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the invasion on D-Day was the largest military attack ever carried out. More than 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes and 150,000 soldiers were involved in the operation.c Over 9,000 servicemen were killed or wounded during the invasion, but the remaining soldiers continued on to fight the Nazis.http://www.army.mil/d-day/10 months after the invasion of Normandy, the Germans lost control of Paris, beginning the decline of Hitler's reign.c A week after Hitler's suicide, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Forces on May 7, 1945, which is commemorated as V-E Day.http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/7/newsid_3578000/3578325.stm