u.s. marines

2008What town dedicated to remembrance appointed itself as the official 'Center of the World'?

Nestled in California’s Imperial County, Felicity is a unique town brought to life by French-American visionary Jacques-André Istel, who declared it the ‘Center of the World.’ Entirely devoted to the preservation of history and remembrance, Felicity features an outdoor Museum of History in Granite, with over a thousand monumental panels designed to endure for 4,000 years. Officially recognized as the Center of the World by the French government in 1989, Felicity also commemorates March 7 as Saint Felicity Day, marking the anniversary of its Church on the Hill of Prayer, dedicated in 2008. Visitors entering Felicity are greeted by a colossal bronze sundial fashioned after Michelangelo’s ‘Arm of God,’ pointing the way to this extraordinary celebration of memory and legacy.

1775What was the first major battle fought by Americans in World War I?

The first major battle fought by American troops in World War I erupted in June 1918 at Belleau Wood, a dense forest near Château-Thierry, France, just 53 miles from Paris. This fierce, twenty-six-day clash marked the Americans’ debut on the Western Front and proved pivotal in halting the final German advance toward Paris, setting the stage for the Allied counter-offensive that would end the war. During the battle, U.S. Marines fought so tenaciously that the Germans nicknamed them "Teufel Hunden," or "Devil Dogs," a legacy still honored at Belleau Wood each Memorial Day. The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, at the base of the hill where the battle raged, now marks the graves of 2,289 Americans lost in the fighting, with the names of 1,060 missing inscribed inside its memorial chapel.