Black History Month is celebrated each February in the United States and Canada. Each nation’s history is filled with notable contributions from black individuals, many of whom overcame incredible odds to make their countries better places for themselves and their peers to call home. As Americans and Canadians prepare to celebrate Black History Month, they can consider these milestone moments in black history.

• Nat Turner leads a slave revolt in 1831. Nat Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in rural Southampton County, Virginia. Turner’s intellect was notable since he was a boy, and that undoubtedly played a role in his ability to orchestrate a slave revolt that began on August 21, 1831. Turner led a group of roughly 75 enslaved people on a four-day rebellion. Though the uprising was quickly suppressed and Turner was ultimately hanged on November 11, 1831, the revolt strengthened anti-slavery sentiments in the northern United States.

• The NAACP is founded in 1909. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was an interracial effort founded by a collection of individuals, included W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells, who aspired to advance justice for black Americans. The NAACP, which History.com notes had expanded to encompass 400 branches within 12 years of its inception, fought against numerous injustices over the years, including anti-lynching efforts in the twentieth century and has also promoted programs and policies designed to place African Americans on equal economic footing with whites.

• Willie O’Ree breaks the color barrier in the National Hockey League in 1958. O’Ree was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on October 15, 1935. O’Ree’s grandparents escaped slavery in the United States through the Underground Railroad and eventually settled in Canada. A winger whose playing career would last until 1979, O’Ree became the first black player to take the ice in an NHL game when he debuted with the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958. Amazingly, O’Ree reached the pinnacle of professional hockey despite having been blinded in one eye two years prior to his debut with the Bruins, who had no knowledge of O’Ree’s diminished vision. Equally notable is that O’Ree had met American baseball player Jackie Robinson when the former was 15-years-old. Robinson had broken the Major League Baseball color barrier on April 15, 1947, an appearance that is considered a watershed moment in black history.

• Lincoln Alexander makes Canadian political history in 1968. Born in Toronto to Caribbean immigrant parents, Lincoln Alexander fought in World War II and became the first black Canadian to be a member of Parliament in the House of Commons. The Government of Canada also notes that Alexander later served as the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991, becoming the first black person to hold a vice-regal position in Canada.

There are no shortage of milestone moments in black history in the United States and Canada. These moments, and the people involved in them, merit celebration and attention.