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Wartime Crimes
December 17, 1944 - Approximately 120 American soldiers, armed with only rifles and other small arms, were taken prisoner by a German SS Panzer division that had broken through Allied lines during the Battle of the Bulge and was attempting to capture the city of Antwerp, Belgium. While the German tanks continued on toward Antwerp, the prisoners were taken to a field where they were surrounded by German SS troops. For reasons that are unclear, the SS troops suddenly opened fire on the prisoners with machine guns, murdering 84. While several prisoners attempted to flee, most were killed where they stood, being shot before they even had an opportunity to react. The tragedy has come to be known as Malmedy Massacre and was the subject of the Dachau war crimes trial. The story of the Malmedy massacre is portrayed in the 2004 independent film, Saints and Soldiers.
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America's Favorite Family
 December 17, 1989 - The first episode of animated television series The Simpsons aired in the United States. Now in its 22nd season, the satirical parody has broadcast over 473 episodes poking fun at the working-class American lifestyle. The series has won dozens of awards including 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. In addition Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series.
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Here Comes the Bride
 December 18, 1915 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson married Edith Bolling Galt while serving as president of the United States. Wilson is one of only three U.S. presidents to marry while in office, the others being John Tyler and Grover Cleveland. Wilson's first wife had died one year earlier and his marriage to Miss Galt after a relatively short courtship caused somewhat of a stir in the nation's capital. In 1919, after President Wilson suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side, the new First Lady unofficially assumed several of his duties as President, causing some to label her "The Secret President." President Wilson died in 1924, three years after leaving office. His wife lived as a widow for 37 years before passing away in 1961.
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"Those who survived the first deadly fusillade flung themselves to the ground, burying their faces in the mud and trying to burrow under the bodies around them. The firing continued, the machine guns raking back and forth across the prostrate forms. There were screams, groans, cries of agony."
- Charles B. Macdonald, writing about the Malmedy Massacre.
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