So it was in the Thirties that numerous commodities, appliances and devices taken for granted today were discovered : antibiotics, sulphonamides, radar, turbo-jets, synthetic rubber, mineral oils, radiotelephony, and artificial intelligence... but only the outbreak of the Second World War could give rise to their development and industrial use. In the pages that follow is an account of 50 discoveries chosen at will from many others, that, in giving the reader a wider understanding of technological advance, sheds new light too, on the scale of Operation Overlord. Visitors to the Landing Beaches may thus appreciate how humanity as a whole has profited from all the inventions collated in the Battle of Normandy.