Colonal sandersAccording to his 1974 autobiography, before Harland Sanders became a world-famous Colonel, he was a sixth-grade dropout, a farmhand, an army mule-tender, a locomotive fireman, a railroad worker, an aspiring lawyer, an insurance salesman, a ferryboat entrepreneur, a tire salesman, an amateur obstetrician, an (unsuccessful) political candidate, a gas station operator, a motel operator and finally, a restaurateur.At the age of 65, a new interstate highway snatched the traffic away from his Corbin, Ky., restaurant and Sanders was left with nothing but a Social Security check and a secret recipe for fried chicken.As it turned out, that was all he needed.Sanders was born in Henryville, Ind., in 1890. Six years later, his father died, forcing his mother to enter the workforce to support the family. At the tender age of six, young Harland was responsible for taking care of his younger siblings and doing much of the family's cooking.A year later he was already a master of several regional dishes. Over the course of the next 30 years, Sanders held many of the jobs listed above, but throughout it all his skill as a cook remained.In 1930, the then 40-year-old Sanders was operating a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, and it was there that he began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped in for gas. He didn't have a restaurant yet, so patrons ate from his own dining table in the station's humble living quarters. It was then that he invented what's called home meal replacement selling complete meals to busy, time-strapped families. He called it, Sunday Dinner, Seven Days a Week.As Sanders' fame grew, Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. Within four years, his establishment was listed in Duncan Hines' Adventures in Good Eating.As more people started coming strictly for the food, he moved across the street to increase his capacity. Over the next decade, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.In 1955, confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to developing his chicken franchising business. Less than 10 years later, Sanders had more than 600 KFC franchises in the U.S. and Canada, and in 1964 he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr. (who later became governor of Kentucky).Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting KFC restaurants around the world. His likeness continues to appear on millions of buckets and on thousands of restaurants in more than 100 countries around the world.Not bad for a man who started from scratch at retirement age.

Colonel SandersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaColonel Sanders

Sanders in October 1972

BornHarland David SandersSeptember 9, 1890Henryville, Indiana, United States

DiedDecember 16, 1980(aged90)Louisville,Kentucky, U.S.

Causeof deathComplications frompneumoniaandleukemia

NationalityAmerican

EducationLa Salle Extension University

OccupationBusinessman

Board memberofKentucky Fried Chicken(founder)

ReligionDisciples of Christ

Spouse(s)Josephine King (divorced)Claudia Price

ChildrenHarland David Sanders, Jr.Margaret SandersMildred Sanders Ruggles

ParentsWilbur David SandersMargaret Ann Sanders(ne Dunlevy)[1]

Signature

ColonelHarland David Sanders[a](September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for foundingKentucky Fried Chicken(KFC), and later acting as the company'sgoodwill ambassadorand symbol.Sanders held a number of jobs in his early life, such as afireman,insurancesalesman and runningfilling stations. He began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant inCorbin, Kentucky, during theGreat Depression. Sanders identified the potential of the restaurantfranchisingconcept, and the first KFC franchise opened in Utah in 1952. The company's rapid expansion across the United States and overseas saw it overwhelm him however, and in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led byJohn Y. Brown, Jr.andJack C. Masseyfor $2 million.Contents[hide] 1Early life and education 2Early career 3Later career 4Public image 5Death 6Legacy 7Footnotes 8Further reading 9See also 10External linksEarly life and education[edit]Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in a four-room house located 3 miles (5km) east ofHenryville, Indiana.[2]He was the oldest of three children born to Wilbur David and Margaret Ann (ne Dunlevy) Sanders.[2]The family attended theAdvent Christian Church.[3]The family were of mostly Irish and English ancestry.His father was a mild and affectionate man who worked his 80 acre farm, until he broke his leg after a fall.[2]He then worked as a butcher in Henryville for two years.[2]One summer afternoon in 1895, he came home with a fever and died later that day.[2]Sanders' mother obtained work in a tomato-canning factory; and the young Harland was required to look after and cook for his siblings.[2]When he was 10 he began to work as a farmhand for local farmers Charlie Norris and Henry Monk.Sanders' mother remarried in 1902, and the family moved toGreenwood, Indiana.[4]Sanders had a tumultuous relationship with his stepfather, and in 1903 he dropped out of school, and went to live and work on a nearby farm.[4]He then took a job painting horse carriages inIndianapolis.[4]When he was 14 he moved to southern Indiana to work as a farmhand for Sam Wilson for two years.[4]In 1906, with his mother's approval, he left the area to live with his uncle inNew Albany, Indiana.[5]His uncle worked for thestreetcarcompany, and secured Sanders a job as a conductor.[6]Early career[edit]Sanders falsified his date of birth and enlisted in theUnited States Armyin November 1906, completing his service commitment as ateamsterinCuba.[5]He was honorably discharged after three months and in 1907 moved toSheffield, Alabama, where an uncle lived.[5]There, he met his brother Clarence who had also moved there in order to escape his stepfather.[5]The uncle worked for theSouthern Railroad, and secured Sanders a job there as a blacksmith's helper in the workshops.[4]After two months, Sanders moved toJasper, Alabamawhere he got a job cleaning out the ash pans of trains from the Northern Alabama Railroad (a division of the Southern Railroad) when they had finished their run.[4]Sanders progressed to become afiremanat the age of 16.[4]In 1909 Sanders found laboring work with theNorfolk and Western Railway.[4]Whilst working on the railroad, he met Josephine King ofJasper, Alabama, and they were married shortly afterwards. They would go on to have a son, Harland, Jr., who died young in 1932 from infected tonsils, and two daughters, Margaret Sanders and Mildred Sanders Ruggles.[7][8]He then found work as a fireman on theIllinois Central Railroad, and he and his family moved toJackson, Tennessee.[4]Meanwhile, Sanders studied law by correspondence at night through theLa Salle Extension University.[4]Sanders lost his job at Illinois after brawling with a work colleague.[9]While Sanders moved to work for theRock Island Railroad, Josephine and the children went to live with her parents.[4]After a while, Sanders began to practice law inLittle Rockfor three years, and he earned enough fees for his family to move with him.[4]His legal career ended after he got engaged in a courtroom brawl with his own client.[10]After that, Sanders moved back with his mother in Henryville, and went to work as a laborer on thePennsylvania Railroad.[4]In 1916, the family moved toJeffersonville, where Sanders got a job sellinglife insurancefor thePrudential Life Insurance Company.[4]Sanders was eventually fired for insubordination.[11]He moved to Louisville and got a salesman job withMutual Benefit LifeofNew Jersey.[11]In 1920, Sanders established a ferry boat company, which operated a boat on theOhio Riverbetween Jeffersonville and Louisville.[4]He canvassed for funding, becoming a minority shareholder himself, and was appointed secretary of the company.[4]The ferry was an instant success.[12]In around 1922 he took a job as secretary at theChamber of CommerceinColumbus, Indiana.[4]He admitted to not being very good at the job, and resigned after less than a year.[4]Sanders cashed in his ferry boat company shares for $22,000 and used the money to establish a company manufacturingacetylenelamps.[4]The venture failed afterDelcointroduced an electric lamp that they sold on credit.Sanders moved toWinchester, Kentucky, to work as a salesman for theMichelin Tire Company.[4]He lost his job in 1924 when Michelin closed their New Jersey manufacturing plant.[13]In 1924, by chance, he met the general manager ofStandard Oil of Kentucky, who asked him to run aservice stationinNicholasville.[4]In 1930, the station closed as a result of the Great Depression.[14]Later career[edit]

TherestaurantinCorbin, Kentuckywhere Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

The world's first KFC franchise, located inSouth Salt Lake, UtahIn 1930, theShell Oil Companyoffered Sanders a service station inCorbin, Kentuckyrent free, in return for paying them a percentage of sales.[4]Sanders began to serve chicken dishes and other meals such ascountry hamandsteaks.[15]Since he did not have a restaurant, he served the customers in his adjacent living quarters. He was commissioned as aKentucky Colonelin 1935 by Kentucky governorRuby Laffoon. His local popularity grew, and in 1939 food criticDuncan Hinesvisited Sanders's restaurant and included it inAdventures in Good Eating, his guide to restaurants throughout the US. The entry read:Corbin, KY.Sanders Court and Caf41 Jct. with 25, 25 E. Mi. N. of Corbin. Open all year except Xmas.A very good place to stop en route to Cumberland Falls and the Great Smokies. Continuous 24-hour service. Sizzling steaks, fried chicken, country ham, hot biscuits. L.50 to $1; D.,60 to $1In July 1939 Sanders acquired a motel inAsheville,North Carolina.[16]His Corbin restaurant and motel was destroyed in a fire in November 1939, and Sanders had it rebuilt as a motel with a 140 seat restaurant.[16]By July 1940, Sanders had finalized his "Secret Recipe" for frying chicken in apressure fryerthat cooked the chicken faster thanpan frying. As the United States enteredWorld War IIin December 1941, gas was rationed, and as the tourists dried up, Sanders was forced to close his Asheville motel. He went to work as a supervisor in Seattle until the latter part of 1942.[4]He later ran cafeterias for the government at an Ordinance Works in Tennessee, followed by a job as an assistant manager at a cafeteria inOak Ridge, Tennessee.[4]He left his mistress, Claudia Ledington-Price, as manager of the Corbin restaurant and motel.[4]In 1942 he sold the Asheville business.[4]In 1947, he and Josephine divorced and Sanders married Claudia in 1949, as he had long desired.[17]Sanders was "re-commissioned" as a Kentucky Colonel in 1949 by his friend, GovernorLawrence Wetherby.[18]In 1952, Sanders franchised "Kentucky Fried Chicken" for the first time, toPete HarmanofSouth Salt Lake, Utah, the operator of one of that city's largest restaurants.[19]In the first year of selling the product, restaurant sales more than tripled, with 75% of the increase coming from sales of fried chicken.[20]For Harman, the addition of fried chicken was a way of differentiating his restaurant from competitors; in Utah, a product hailing from Kentucky was unique and evoked imagery ofSouthern hospitality.[21]Don Anderson, a sign painter hired by Harman, coined the nameKentucky Fried Chicken.[21]

Sanders signing his autograph, 1974.At age 65 (around 1955), Sanders' sold his Corbin outlet after the newInterstate 75reduced his restaurant's customer traffic.[22][23]Sanders decided to begin to franchise his chicken concept in earnest, and traveled the US looking for suitable restaurants. After closing the Corbin site, Sanders and his wife Claudia opened a new restaurant and company headquarters inShelbyvillein 1959.[24]The franchise approach became highly successful; KFC was one of the first fast food chains to expand internationally, opening outlets in Canada and later in England, Mexico and Jamaica by the mid-1960s. The company's rapid expansion to more than 600 locations became overwhelming for the aging Sanders. In 1964 he sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation for $2 million to a partnership of Kentucky businessmen headed byJohn Y. Brown, Jr.(a then-29-year-old lawyer and future governor of Kentucky) andJack C. Massey(a venture capitalist and entrepreneur), and he became a salaried brand ambassador. The initial deal did not include the Canadian operations (which Sanders retained) or the franchising rights in England, Florida, Utah, and Montana (which Sanders had already sold to others).[25]In 1965 Sanders moved toMississauga,Ontarioto oversee his Canadian franchises and continued to collect franchise and appearance fees both in Canada and in the U.S. Sanders bought and lived in a bungalow at 1337 Melton Drive in theLakeviewarea of Mississauga from 1965 to 1980.[26]In September 1970 he and his wife werebaptizedin theJordan River.[27]He also befriendedBilly GrahamandJerry Falwell.[27]Sanders and his wife reopened their Shelbyville restaurant as "Claudia Sanders, The Colonel's Lady" and served KFC-style chicken there as part of a full-service dinner menu, and talked about expanding the restaurant into a chain.[28]He was sued by the company for it.[28][29]In 1973, he suedHeublein Inc.the then parent company of Kentucky Fried Chickenover the alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly described their gravy as "wallpaper paste" to which "sludge" was added.[30]After reaching a settlement with Heublein, he sold the Colonel's Lady restaurant, and it has continued to operate since then (currently as the "Claudia Sanders Dinner House").[28][29]It serves his "original recipe" fried chicken as part of its (non-fast-food) dinner menu, and it is the only non-KFC restaurant that serves an authorized version of the fried chicken recipe.[31][32]Public image[edit]After being recommissioned as aKentucky colonelin 1950 by GovernorLawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing a goatee and wearing a blackfrock coat(later switching to a white suit), astring tie, and referring to himself as "Colonel".[18]His associates went along with the title change, "jokingly at first and then in earnest", according to biographerJosh Ozersky.[22]He never wore anything else in public during the last 20 years of his life, using a heavy wool suit in the winter and a light cotton suit in the summer.[22]He bleached his mustache and goatee to match his white hair.[17]Death[edit]

Gravesite of Harland Sanders.

Sanders remains the official face of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and appears on its logoSanders later used his stock holdings to create the Colonel Harland Sanders Trust and Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, which used the proceeds to aid charities and fund scholarships. His trusts continue to donate money to groups like theTrillium Health Care Centre; a wing of their building specializes in women's and children's care and has been named after him.[33]TheSidney, British Columbiabased foundation granted over $1,000,000 in 2007, according to its 2007 tax return.[34]Sanders was diagnosed withacute leukemiain June 1980.[7][35]He died at Jewish Hospital inLouisville, Kentuckyof pneumonia on December 16, 1980 at the age of 90.[36][37][38]His bodylay in statein the rotunda of theKentucky State CapitolinFrankfortafter a funeral service at theSouthern Baptist SeminaryChapel, which was attended by more than 1,000 people. He was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie inCave Hill Cemeteryin Louisville.By the time of his death, there were an estimated 6,000 KFC outlets in 48 different countries worldwide, with $2 billion of sales annually.[39]Legacy[edit]Since his death, Sanders has been portrayed by voice actors in KFC commercials in radio and an animated version of him has been used for television commercials.The JapaneseNippon Professional Baseballleague has developed anurban legendof the "Curse of the Colonel". A statue of Colonel Sanders was thrown into a river and lost during a 1985 fan celebration, and (according to the legend) the "curse" has caused Japan'sHanshin Tigersto perform poorly since the incident.[40]One of Colonel Sanders' white suits and black clip-on bow-ties were sold at auction for $21,510 byHeritage Auctionson June 22, 2013.[41]The suit had been given toCincinnatiresident Mike Morris by Sanders, who was close to Morris's family. The Morris family house was purchased by Col. Sanders, and Sanders lived with the family for six months.[42]The suit was purchased by Kentucky Fried Chicken of Japan president Maseo "Charlie" Watanabe. Watanabe put on the famous suit after placing the winning bid at the auction event in Dallas, Texas.In 2011, a manuscript of a book on cooking that Sanders apparently wrote in the mid-1960s was found in KFC archives. It includes some cooking recipes from Sanders as well as anecdotes and life lessons. KFC said it was planning to try some of the recipes and to publish the 200-page manuscript online.[43][44]

After many years of serving his secret fried chicken recipe in his local restaurant, Colonel Harland Sanders found himself in need of a new career. At the age of 65, he began to collect his social security check of about $100 as he wondered how he was going to survive financially.Colonel Sanders BackgroundGrowing up in Indiana, household responsibilities were often left to him while his mother worked to support the family after his father's early death. This is how he developed his keen cooking skills as he helped his mother take care of the other children in his family.Several different jobs later, Sanders began his entrepreneurial career running a service station in Kentucky while serving his special chicken in a dining area within. As business grew, he relocated to a restaurant close by in order to make his original recipe with its blend of eleven herbs and spices accessible to even more customers. He also added a motel to the business.In 1935, at forty-five years old, Sanders was dubbed a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor, in recognition of his fabulous cooking skills. Subsequently, in 1940 Sanders created his well-known "Original Recipe."Colonel Sanders New Cooking TechniqueSanders originally prepared his chicken in an iron skillet but soon realized that was not efficient in a restaurant setting. In order to decrease the wait time for his customers, Sanders modified his cooking procedure by making use of a pressure fryer.Colonel Sanders Entrepreneurial DriveThe Sanders Court & Caf catered mainly to travelers on their way to Florida through the town of Corbin, Kentucky. However, in the early 1950's, a new interstate was in the works that would cause a great loss in business, forcing Sanders to retire and sell his restaurant.However, the government check was small and Sanders wasn't willing to just sit still and try to make due. He believed there was an opportunity to market his chicken to restaurant owners across the U.S.In his travels, he was rejected on many occasions, laughed at about his attire of his starched white shirt and white pants. However, Sanders persevered, and after a little over 1,000 visits, he finally persuaded Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah to partner with him. They launched the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" site in 1952.In the early 1960's there were over 600 franchised locations in the U.S. and Canada selling the delectable chicken. Subsequently, in 1964 Sanders sold the franchising operation for $2 million. The franchise has been sold three other times since then and continues to be a well-known successful business.

Col. Harland Sanders: American Fast Food PioneerThe Story of Colonel Sanders

In the beginning...Colonel Harland Sanders, born September 9, 1890, actively began franchising his chicken business at the age of 65. Now, the Kentucky Fried Chicken business he started has grown to be one of the largest retail food service systems in the world. And Colonel Sanders, a quick service restaurant pioneer, has become a symbol of entrepreneurial spirit.More than two billion of the Colonel's "finger lickin' good" chicken dinners are served annually. And not just in North America. The Colonel's cooking is available in more than 82 countries around the world.When the Colonel was six, his father died. His mother was forced to go to work, and young Harland had to take care of his three-year-old brother and baby sister. This meant doing much of the family cooking. By the age of seven, he was a master of a score of regional dishes.At age 10, he got his first job working on a nearby farm for $2 a month. When he was 12, his mother remarried and he left his home near Henryville, Ind., for a job on a farm in Greenwood, Ind. He held a series of jobs over the next few years, first as a 15-year-old streetcar conductor in New Albany, Ind., and then as a 16-year-old private, soldiering for six months in Cuba.After that he was a railroad fireman, studied law by correspondence, practiced in justice of the peace courts, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires, and operated service stations. When he was 40, the Colonel began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Ky. He didn't have a restaurant then, but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station.As more people started coming just for food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.As we grew...Sander's fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in Good Eating."In the early 1950s a new interstate highway was planned to bypass the town of Corbin. Seeing an end to his business, the Colonel auctioned off his operations. After paying his bills, he was reduced to living on his $105 Social Security checks.Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement on a deal that stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada. That year, he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr., who later was governor of Kentucky from 1980 to 1984. The Colonel remained a public spokesman for the company. In 1976, an independent survey ranked the Colonel as the world's second most recognizable celebrity.Under the new owners, Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation grew rapidly. It went public on March 17, 1966, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16, 1969. More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants were in worldwide operation when Heublein Inc. acquired KFC Corporation on July 8, 1971, for $285 million.Kentucky Fried Chicken became a subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc.), when Heublein Inc. was acquired by Reynolds in 1982. KFC was acquired in October 1986 from RJR Nabisco, Inc. by PepsiCo, Inc., for approximately $840 million.In January 1997, PepsiCo, Inc. announced the spin-off of its quick service restaurants -- KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut -- into an independent restaurant company. The spin-off should be completed during the fourth quarter 1997. The new restaurant company, TRICON Global Restaurants, Inc., will be the world's largest restaurant system with more than 29,500 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in nearly 100 countries and territories.Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting the KFC empire he founded.And it all began with a 65-year-old gentleman who used his $105 Social Security check to start a business.

When I read last week that a majority of Americans ages 18 to 25didn't know who Colonel Sanders was, I was shocked. According toUSA Today, 61% of respondents didn't know who the guy with the beard in the KFC logo was. What? They don't know who the most famous chicken icon in the world is? A face that says "fried chicken" to hungry people from China to Peru?For anyone who grew up in America in the second half of the 20th century, the Colonel was a true icon. You didn't need to be able to read to know who he was; you didn't even need to watch TV. Anyone who drove a mile in any direction would see his beaming, grandfatherly visage and white suit and know that Kentucky Fried Chicken could be found there. Maybe not everybody knew that he was the chain's founder or remembered hisTV commercials from the '60s and '70s, when he talked about how each piece was dipped in an "egg warsh" before frying. But, at least, they knew he was real. Half of the young adults in the survey, which was ordered up by the chain, assumed that he was the creation of KFC, rather than the other way around.(See TIME's photo-essay on food as pop culture.)I find this very disturbing. And not because I'm in the process of writing a book about Colonel Sanders. I don't expect anybody under 25 to read it or anybody else, for that matter. But it hurts me as an American to think that so many people lack such a basic piece of cultural information. I mean, it's one thing to not know who Thomas Jefferson was or when the Vietnam War ended. College professors brace themselves for the ignorance of their charges and, in fact, have a good laugh about it every year, when two academics in Wisconsin circulate, with much fanfare,a list of how much the incoming freshmen don't know.But by not knowing that Harland David Sanders was an actual man, who lived an actual life, people miss out on more than they might imagine. For one thing, the Colonel wasn't just a fast-food baron who represented his company on TV, the way Dave Thomas (a Sanders protg) later did. Sanders was the living embodiment of what his food supposedly stood for. His white suit wasn't the invention of a marketing committee; he wore it every day and was never seen in public for the last 20 years of his life in anything else. (He had a heavy wool one for winter and a lighter cotton one for summer.) He was a failure who got fired from a dozen jobs before starting his restaurant, and then failed at that when he went out of business and found himself broke at the age of 65. He drove around in a Cadillac with his face painted on the side before anybody knew who he was, pleading with the owners of run-down diners to use his recipe and give him a nickel commission on each chicken. He slept in the back of the car and made handshake deals. His first marriage was a difficult one, so he divorced his wife after 39 years. (His second marriage was much happier.) He once shot a man in a gun battle, but was never charged as the other guy started it. He was a lawyer who once assaulted his own client in court. He was indeed a Kentucky Colonel, an honorary title given to him by not one but two governors. He was a Rotarian and a Presbyterian, and he deserves to be remembered at least for having a verifiable existence.(See pictures of what the world eats.)But after he died, at the age of 90 in 1980, his image was up for grabs. By the 1980s, the Old South was not the most appealing image for a national chain. Nor was fried chicken any longer the perfect food to feed your family in a time when calorie-counting and healthy choices were already becoming omnipresent concerns. The Colonel was for a time even transformed into afrisky cartoon character who danced around, dunked basketballs and affected hip-hop lingowhen he wasn't plugging Pokmon toys. Later, perhaps in a fit of remorse, KFC outfitted him in an apron to remind the world of his culinary skill.Since the Colonel's death, his company has changed its name, dropping Kentucky Fried Chicken for the more generic and unthreatening initials KFC, even going so far as to suggest that the letters stood for "Kitchen Fresh Chicken." Nobody was fooled. Frequently KFC has wanted to shift its identity to something more in keeping with the times, but it is yoked to the Colonel and his fried legacy. And its inability to change is, in fact, the best thing about it. There is no "original recipe" for McDonald's; that company can change the way it makes burgers tomorrow, just like it has in the past. The food at Taco Bell doesn't reference any particular place or time; there's nobody to recognize, no frame of reference to miss. Many KFC franchisees, particularly in the South, wish that Yum! Brands, KFC's parent, would see that, and these franchisees feel so strongly about the matter that theyhave sued KFC. They feel that KFC'S rebranding efforts hurt the brand, and couldn't care less if the chain's core product is "relevant," as KFC puts it.It's hard not to see at least some grounds for their position. After all, Colonel Sanders' 11 secret herbs and spices are their greatest asset. That recipe is kept ina vault deep inside corporate headquartersin Lexington, Ky., surrounded by motion detectors and surveillance cameras; only two executives have access to it at any time. Inside that vault, those spices are written on a piece of notebook paper, in pencil, in Sanders' own hand. I'm told that the paper is yellowing and the handwriting, by now, is faint. That fragile connection to a real man and a real vision is what makes KFC unique. I wish more people would appreciate that.Ozersky is a James Beard Awardwinning food writer and the author ofThe Hamburger: A History. His food video site,Ozersky.TV, is updated daily. He is currently at work on a biography of Colonel Sanders. Taste of America, Ozersky's food column for TIME.com, appears every Wednesday.

Colonel Harland SandersBiographyChef(18901980) QUICK FACTSNAMEColonel Harland SandersOCCUPATIONChefBIRTH DATESeptember 9,1890DEATH DATEDecember 16,1980PLACE OF BIRTHHenryville,IndianaPLACE OF DEATHLouisville,KentuckyAKAHarland SandersColonel Harland SandersColonel SandersFULL NAMEHarland David Sanders SYNOPSIS EARLY LIFE AND CAREER KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN IS BORN LATER YEARS RELATED VIDEOS CITE THIS PAGEColonel Sanders is best known for creating a fried chicken recipe that would become the world's fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken.IN THESE GROUPS FAMOUS VIRGOANS FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN HENRYVILLE FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN UNITED STATES FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN ON SEPTEMBER 9Show All GroupsQUOTESThere's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.Colonel Harland Sanders

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A Woman Removes Her Makeup On Camera To Reveal Her Truth. UPWORTHYPOWERED BYPUBEXCHANGEColonel Sanders - Mini Bio(TV-14; 02:12)Colonel Sanders is synonymous with Kentucky Fried Chicken. He created the recipe, franchised it, and earned worldwide fame.SynopsisColonel Harland Sanders was born on September 9, 1890, in Henryville, Indiana. At the age of 40, Sanders was running a popular Kentucky service station that also served foodso popular, in fact, that the governor of Kentucky designated him a Kentucky colonel. Eventually, Sanders focused on franchising his fried chicken business around the country, collecting a payment for each chicken sold. The company went on to become the world's largest fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 16, 1980.

Early Life and CareerBest known for founding the fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland David Sanders was born on September 9, 1890, in Henryville, Indiana. After his father died when he was 6 years old, Sanders became responsible for feeding and taking care of his younger brother and sister. Beginning at the age of 10, he held down numerous jobs, including farmer, streetcar conductor, railroad fireman and insurance salesman.At age 40, Sanders was running a service station in Kentucky, where he would also feed hungry travelers. Sanders eventually moved his operation to a restaurant across the street, and featured a fried chicken so notable that he was named a Kentucky colonel in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon.Kentucky Fried Chicken is BornAfter closing the restaurant in 1952, Sanders devoted himself to franchising his chicken business. He traveled across the country, cooking batches of chicken from restaurant to restaurant, striking deals that paid him a nickel for every chicken the restaurant sold. In 1964, with more than 600 franchised outlets, he sold his interest in the company for $2 million to a group of investors.Kentucky Fried Chicken went public in 1966 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1969. More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants were in worldwide operation when Heublein Inc. acquired KFC Corporation in 1971for $285 million. KFC became a subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc.), when Heublein Inc. was acquired by Reynolds in 1982. KFC was acquired in October 1986 from RJR Nabisco, Inc. by PepsiCo, Inc., for approximately $840 million.

There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.Colonel Harland Sanders