Some 5000 ships and 13,000 planes assisted the infantry during the attack alternatively bombing and shelling the beaches of Normandy prior to the landings.
The invasion would prove to be the turning point of WWII and would lead to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany, but the cost was high, with an estimated 2,500 Americans dying on Omaha Beach alone.
In the years following the end of the war, treasure hunters have combed the beaches and removed any metal object of significant size. However, a study of the sand on Omaha Beach done in 2011 revealed that much shrapnel still remained.
The study estimated that as much as 4% of the sand on the beach was made up of tiny metal particles left over from artillery explosions during the attack. These particles, roughly the same size as the sand grains, were found together with equally small particles of clear glass.
The glass beads are believed to have been created when the high temperature of the explosions transformed the beach sand into the tiny glass beads found.
