On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
National monuments are located in 31 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Arizona, with 18, has the largest number of national monuments, followed by California with 15 and New Mexico with 14. At least 65 national monuments protect places of natural significance, including 12 geological sites, seven marine sites, and five volcanic sites.
The Leshan Giant Buddha, the largest stone Buddha in the world and the largest pre-modern statue with its height of 233 ft (71 m), carved out of a cliff face between 713 and 803 AD, near Leshan, China. Mother of the Motherland, a part of Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kiev, Ukraine, built between 1979 and 1981.