May 19 in U.S. military history

1848: The Mexican government agrees to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, officially ending the Mexican-American War and ceding over 500,000 square miles of territory to the United States. Over 1,500 Americans gave their lives in combat and another 10,000 died from illness during the two-year war.

1855: Marines from the screw frigate USS Powhatan land in Shanghai to protect American lives and property during the Taiping Rebellion.

1942: After evading capture by Japanese forces in China and returning safely to the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt awards Brig. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle the Medal of Honor for leading the Doolittle Raid against Japan.

1944: The crew of destroyer escort USS England (DE-635) sinks their first of six Japanese submarines in 12 days – the most subs sunk by any ship in history. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Ernest J. King declares, “There’ll always be an England in the United States Navy.”

1960: (Featured image) U.S. Air Force major Robert M. White pilots his North American X-15 rocket-powered aircraft to an altitude of 108,000 feet (20.6 miles). Prior to becoming the first human to reach Mach 4, 5, and 6 (over 4,000 miles per hour), White flew combat missions in World War II and Korea, and earns the Air Force Cross (the service’s second-highest award for valor, behind the Medal of Honor) on one of his 70 missions over North Vietnam.