Russia invades Poland.
It is a curious, confusing thing, war. Your supposed allies will sometimes do things you deplore and must condemn, and that's what stole the headlines December 1, 1939. Still out of the war, Franklin Roosevelt was castigating from the sidelines. The Russians, though, they didn't really care.
Incidentally the headlines have a cutline. You can see it just a tiny bit in this image: the FDR line is attributed to an "Official From Washington" and the second headline is credited to the Associated Press Roundup.
The art uses the slug "'White City' made red with blood." The Finns changed governments, opting for something a little more pro-Russian as Red bombers flew overhead. A Soviet warship was sunk in southern Finland.
The Soviets invaded to help create a buffer zone to their west, but things didn't go well for Stalin. His soldiers were held up for months by the Finnish resistance. The U.S.S.R. was expelled from the League of Nations and, because there was now a big question about the Russian war capability, Hitler decided to open an Eastern front.
This, of course, would ultimately lead to Germany's defeat, but at the cost of millions of lives.
On the homefront, Americans were getting read for Christmas. Santa was hanging out with a local weatherman, a parade was in the works and the graphic at the bottom says there's only 19 shopping days left.
There was a segregation housing controversy brewing on Birmingham's Southside. There's news of relief for stove, range and foundry manufacturers who'd apparently been getting ill-treatment from northern markets. Thomas Dewey announced he was running for president and FDR avoided questions about a possible third term.