Ever since the four-wheeled Sumerian donkey chariot was replaced by the two-wheeled horse-drawn variety, war and technological innovation have gone hand and hand. In no conflict was this more apparent than World War II--arguably the first modern war. As soldiers fought from one end of the globe to the other, scientists developed many of the technologies that underlie not only today's wars, but our daily lives: nuclear power, radar, jet propulsion and the personal computer.
And for the entire course of the war, Popular Science Magazine documented the enormous scientific advances spurned on by that most awful conflict. So, in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe, take a look back at our coverage of D-Day tech from the 1940s when, as always, PopSci envisioned a bold and thrilling future driven by amazing technology. Enjoy.
