WHAT ALL HAPPENED OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 1939
Find out what all happened October to December 1939

World War II: Battle of the River Plate – The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo. (17. December 1939)

After a one-month Siege of Warsaw, hostile Nazi forces enter the city. (1. October 1939)

World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents. (4. November 1939)

Gone with the Wind receives its premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. (15. December 1939)

Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later. (26. November 1939)

Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland. (14. December 1939)

World War II: Battle of the River Plate – Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles. (13. December 1939)

World War II: Sonderaktion Krakau takes place. (6. November 1939)

In Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. (15. November 1939)

Pope Pius XII publishes his first major encyclical entitled Summi Pontificatus. (20. October 1939)

First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. (29. December 1939)

Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. In addition, all Czech universities are shut down and over 1200 Czech students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic. (17. November 1939)

The first rabbit born after artificial insemination is exhibited to the world. (1. November 1939)

World War II: Germany annexes Western Poland. (8. October 1939)

Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war. (30. November 1939)

World War II: First attack on British territory by the German Luftwaffe. (16. October 1939)

World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. (24. December 1939)

The Japanese Mitsubishi G4M twin-engine "Betty" Bomber makes its maiden flight. (23. October 1939)

Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi – Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict. (12. December 1939)

Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans. (8. November 1939)