The month of January has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in January 1926.

• Great War cemeteries in France are submerged on January 7 due to ongoing downpours affecting various areas throughout Europe. The same rains flood the London subway system as well.

• Twenty-year-old Ayn Rand departs Russia by train on January 17. Rand’s early life in Communist Russia heavily influenced the philosophy reflected in many of her more notable works.

• Voting rights activist Indiana Little leads several hundred Black men and women on a march to the Jefferson County registrar’s office in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 18. Little is arrested for disturbing the peace and would not be registered to vote for another 30 years.

• Multiple ships near New York City are threatened by a gale on January 20. The U.S. luxury liner SS President Roosevelt completes a rescue of the British freighter SS Antinoe on January 28 after initial reports indicating the latter ship sank in the storm.