I'm not sure that I would say that a majority of movies are about the 101st Airborne. The only ones I am aware of are the TV series Band of Brothers and the movie Battleground (1949). Though the division does feature in a number of other movies such as The Longest Day, The Battle of the Bulge and A Bridge Too Far.

But it's primarily the events that are portrayed in Battleground and The Battle of the Bulge that have given the division its cachet. More on that later ...

The 101st Airborne was activated on 19 August 1942, just a few days after the 82nd Airborne. Both divisions were all volunteer and training was tough and realistic. As they were to drop behind enemy lines, likely cutoff from regular supplies, and in the first stages of any attack, troops were expected to be resourceful and aggressive. As it happened the 82nd was first into combat dropping into Sicily and Italy. The 101st wouldn't see combat until D-Day.

The 101st made combat jumps on D-Day and again on 17th September 1944 during Operation Market Garden. In both cases the division performed exceptionally well. They were kept in the line for several weeks after the attacks to help the continuing operations. After which they were pulled out for refitting.

In December 1944 both the 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne divisions had been designated as 'strategic reserve' units when the German army attacked through the Ardennes starting what we call the 'Battle of the Bulge'. The 82nd was sent to the Northern part of the Bulge while the 101st was sent to the Southern part with orders to hold the crossroads town of Bastogne.

The division arrived in the town on the morning of December and immediately started digging in. German attacks on the division's positions started in earnest on the 20th and by noon on the 21st all roads leading into the town had been cut by the Germans. When the commander of the German forces demanded that the encircled troops surrender, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe (who was acting 101st division commander) replied with one word : "NUTS!"^[1]. The troops in Bastogne although badly outnumbered, in miserable weather and with only the supplies they had on hand (bad weather prevented airdrops) held off the German attacks until Patton's Third Army pushed up from the south to relieve the town on December 26th.

Sources : The Second World War, John Keegan; The Guns At Last Light, Rick Atkinson;

^[1] Apparently the whole message read:

To the German Commander

NUTS!

The American Commander

The meaning had to be explained to the Germans.