Tuesday, April 1, 1969
The Golden Anniversary of freefall parachuting will be April 28 of this year, a hallmark in aviation’s short and often turbulent history. Fifty years ago one man became the harbinger of today’s advanced and sophisticated “skydiving” techniques, one jump changed the role of the parachute and those who were to use them. That momentous day was April 28, 1919 and the man was Leslie L. Irvin, truly one of aviation’s great figures.