A birthday party helped the Allies success at D-Day

The invasion of Normandy may have played out a lot differently if it wasn’t for one German commander’s wife’s birthday. Erwin Rommel, in charge of defending Europe from Allied invasion, took the day of June 6, 1944, off to celebrate with his wife.

You might know it as D-Day.

While he was away, the Allied forces captured the French coast leading to the largest German defeat of World War II.