🔪 This Week In History - The Korean War Kicks Off

Welcome back History Nerds,

We’ve got another eventful week of history to cover and distract you from the current chaos that’s surrounding us! It’s ironic that this week in history, not only was the Treaty of Versailles signed, but the Korean War also began as well as the reveal of the very first iPhone. Maybe Steve Jobs was trying to start his own war. Jokes aside, if you enjoy this one, make sure you share it with a friend!

Did You Know? On April 1, 1979, Nickelodeon launched as the first cable TV channel for kids—but it didn’t have commercials, cartoons, or slime (yet). Its very first program? A pinball-heavy educational show called Pinwheel that ran for five hours straight. The network didn’t truly take off until it embraced weird game shows, green goo, and giving kids the power to say “I don’t know” on national TV.

During Your History Lesson You’ll Learn About:

• The Treaty That Ended a War and Started a Century of Strife

• Napoleon’s Russian Misadventure

• iPhone 2007: The Phone That Shrunk the World

• The Korean War Kicks Off

Versailles: The Treaty That Promised Peace but Delivered Pain

On June 28, 1919, world leaders gathered at the Palace of Versailles to end the war that had shattered Europe. World War I had claimed over 16 million lives, toppled empires, and redrawn borders. The Treaty of Versailles was meant to seal peace—but its terms sowed the seeds of future conflict.

The treaty didn’t just end fighting; it assigned blame. Article 231—the “war guilt clause”—placed full responsibility on Germany, demanding massive reparations and crippling its military. It was more than a political blow; it was a deep national wound. And it would fester.

President Woodrow Wilson came with high ideals—his Fourteen Points and the promise of a League of Nations. But the final treaty was a compromise: France wanted security, Britain wanted control, Wilson wanted principle. In the end, Versailles offered a fragile mix of all three.

In Germany, resentment boiled. Economic collapse and humiliation fueled extremism. A little over a decade later, a fiery nationalist would point to Versailles as betrayal—and use it to rally a broken country.

But in that moment, there was hope. The war was over. The ink was dry. Peace, they believed, had been written into history. It hadn’t. A century later, Versailles stands not just as a treaty, but as a warning—that peace built on punishment rarely holds.

How to Lose an Army in 6 Months: Napoleon’s Russian Misadventure

On June 24, 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte—a man never accused of thinking small—launched his Grand Army of 600,000 troops into Russia. His goal? Teach Tsar Alexander I a lesson for not playing nice with Napoleon’s plans for Europe. But this wasn’t a quick march through the countryside. It was the start of one of the most disastrous military campaigns in history, and Napoleon had no idea what kind of freezing, flaming nightmare he had just walked into.

At first, the French made progress, pushing deep into Russian territory. But instead of facing the Russian army in a glorious battle, Napoleon found himself chasing shadows. The Russians burned their own towns and retreated, leaving nothing behind—not even a loaf of bread. Napoleon’s men starved, froze, and dropped like flies. By the time they reached Moscow, it was on fire, and there was no surrender, just more frostbite and misery.

Napoleon finally gave up and retreated, but the damage was done. By the end of the campaign, more than 400,000 of his soldiers were dead. The invasion shattered his reputation and marked the beginning of the end of his empire. It’s remembered as a brutal reminder that even the greatest generals can be brought down—not just by armies, but by winter, hunger, and really bad planning.

The iPhone: A Pocket Revolution Unveiled in 2007

On June 29, 2007, a crowd gathered at the Moscone Center in San Francisco—not for a concert or a convention, but to witness a reveal that would reshape how the world connects. Onstage stood Steve Jobs, in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, holding what looked like a sleek rectangle of glass and metal. “*An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator,*” he said. “*Are you getting it?*” The audience laughed. They didn’t know they were looking at the future.

At a time when smartphones meant clunky keyboards and styluses, Apple offered a screen you could swipe, tap, and pinch. No buttons. No manuals. Just intuition. Inside that 3.5-inch display lived music, maps, the web—and eventually, the entire digital world. It wasn’t the first smartphone, but it made smartphones make sense.

Jobs wasn’t just launching a product. He was launching a philosophy. That phones could be elegant. That technology could be human. And that a device in your pocket could do more than make calls—it could redefine how you live, work, and interact with everything around you.

At first, the iPhone was met with skepticism. Competitors dismissed it. Critics questioned the lack of a physical keyboard. But users got it. They lined up for hours. Then days. And by the time the App Store arrived a year later, the iPhone had become more than a phone—it was a platform, a lifestyle, a mirror of the modern world.

Today, it’s easy to forget what came before: the clicking of T9 keys, the stylus taps on resistive screens, the wall between phones and the internet. The iPhone tore all that down. In its place, it left a new standard—one that every modern smartphone still follows.

The 38th Parallel Panic: The Korean War Kicks Off

On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops stormed across the 38th parallel, catching South Korea completely off guard and sparking the start of the Korean War. Backed by the Soviet Union, North Korea thought it could reunite the peninsula by force. But South Korea had a powerful ally of its own: the United Nations, which quickly passed a resolution calling for help—mostly answered by the United States, who didn’t need much convincing to take a stand against communism.

With Cold War tensions already sky-high, the Korean War became a full-blown international conflict almost overnight. American troops were soon fighting side by side with South Korean forces, pushing back against the North in a brutal back-and-forth. Then China joined in, sending waves of soldiers into the fight. The war turned into a meat grinder, with neither side gaining much ground—but both sides losing a lot of lives.

After three years of bloodshed and stalemates, the fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty—meaning technically, the war never officially ended. The border between North and South Korea is still one of the most heavily guarded places on Earth. And while the war itself might not get as much attention as others, its legacy still shapes global politics today. It’s a reminder that even a seemingly small border dispute can explode into something much bigger.

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See You Next Time!

We hope that you enjoyed this edition of the LOL History newsletter! See you next week!

— Evan & Derek - LOL History Co-Founders