Kentucky Friend Chicken's founder - Long Journey to Success

9/9/1890
Harland Sanders is born just outside Henryville, Indiana. His father died
when he was 6yo. Then Harland had to take care of his younger brother and
sister when her mother began working in a shirt factory. He tended to things
at home and learned to cook the meals, including fried chicken by his
mother's teachings.

1900-1924
Harland Sanders holds a variety of jobs including: farm hand, streetcar
conductor, army private in Cuba, blacksmith's helper, railyard fireman,
insurance salesman, tire salesman and service station operator for Standard
Oil.

1930
In the midst of the depression, Harland Sanders opens his first restaurant
in the small front room of a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders serves
as station operator, chief cook and cashier and names the dining area
"Sanders Court & Café."

1936
Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon makes Harland Sanders an honorary Kentucky
Colonel in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine.

1937
The Sanders Court & Café adds a motel and expands the restaurant to 142
seats.

1939
The Sanders Court & Café is first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in
Good Eating."

Fire destroys The Sanders Court & Café, but it is rebuilt and reopened.

The pressure cooker is introduced. Soon thereafter Colonel Sanders begins
using it to fry his chicken to give customers fresh chicken, faster.

1940
Birthdate of the Original Recipe

1949
Sanders marries Claudia Price.

1952
The Colonel begins actively franchising his chicken business by traveling
from town to town and cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and
employees.

The Colonel awards Pete Harman of Salt Lake City with the first KFC
franchise. A handshake agreement stipulates a payment of a nickel to Sanders
for each chicken sold.

1955
After running a restaurant for several years, Harland Sanders (65yo) found
himself penniless.

An interstate highway is built to bypass Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders sells the
service station on the same day that he receives his first social security
check for $105. After paying debts owed, he is virtually broke. He decides
to go on the road to sell his Secret Recipe to restaurants.

1957
Kentucky Fried Chicken first sold in buckets (Harland Sanders, 67 yo)

1960
The Colonel's hard work on the road begins to pay off and there are 190 KFC
franchisees and 400 franchise units in the U.S. and Canada.

1964
Kentucky Fried Chicken has more than 600 franchised outlets in the United
States, Canada and the first overseas outlet, in England.

Sanders sells his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of
investors headed by John Y. Brown Jr., future governor of Kentucky. The
Colonel remains a public spokesman for the company.

1965
Colonel Sanders receives the Horatio Alger Award from the American Schools
and Colleges Association.

1966
The Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation goes public.

1969
The Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.

1971
More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants are in worldwide
operation when Heublein Inc. acquires KFC Corporation.

1976
An independent survey ranks the Colonel as the world's second most
recognizable celebrity.

1977
Colonel Sanders speaks before a U.S. Congressional Committee on Aging.

1979
KFC cooks up 2.7 billion pieces of chicken. There are approximately 6,000
KFC restaurants worldwide with sales of more than $2 billion.

12/16/1980
Colonel Harland Sanders, who came to symbolize quality in the food industry,
dies in 90 yrs old after being stricken with leukemia. Flags on all Kentucky
state buildings fly at half-staff for four days.

1982
Kentucky Fried Chicken becomes a subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Industries,
Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc.) when Heublein, Inc. is acquired by Reynolds.

1986
PepsiCo, Inc. acquires KFC from RJR Nabisco, Inc.

1997
PepsiCo, Inc. announces the spin-off of its quick service restaurants - KFC,
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut - into Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc.

2002
Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company,
changes its corporate name to YUM! Brands, Inc. In addition to KFC, the
company owns A&W® All-American Food® Restaurants, Long John Silvers®, Pizza
Hut® and Taco Bell® restaurants.

2006
More than a billion of the Colonel's "finger lickin' good" chicken dinners
are served annually in more than 80 countries and territories around the
world.
 
Source:

Sacrifice of a Brother

In the 15th century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with
18 children. In order to keep food on the table, the father, Durer worked
almost eighteen hours a day at his trade.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Durer's elder children,
Albert and Albrecht wanted to pursue their talent of art, but they knew
their father would never be financially able to send either of them to
Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

Finally, two boys would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby
mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while attended the
academy. When the "won the toss" brother completed his studies, in four
years, he would support his other brother at the academy, either with sales
of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.

When Albrecht as young artist returned to his village, the Durer family
held a dinner to celebrate his homecoming. After a long memorable
meal,  Albrecht rose from his honored position to drink a toast to his
beloved brother. His closing words, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of
mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream,
and I will take care of you."

But Albert was shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed
and repeated, over and over, "No ...no ... No, brother. I cannot go to
Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look ... what four years in the mines have
done to my hands!

The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have
been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even
hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on
parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ... for me it is too
late."

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht
Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and
thin fingers stretched skyward.

He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost
immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his
tribute of love "The Praying Hands."
 

Joseph Kudar –success – fail– success

A Hungarian refugee -- to protect his privacy we'll call him Joseph
Kudar. Kudar was a successful young lawyer in Hungary before the
uprisings in that country in 1956. A strong believer in freedom for his
country, he fought Soviet tanks in the streets of Budapest with his
friends. When the uprising failed, he was forced to flee the country.

When Kudar arrived in the U.S. he had no money, no job, no friends. He
was, however, well educated; he spoke and wrote several languages,
including English. For several months he tried to get a job in a law
office, but because of his lack of familiarity with American law, he
received only polite refusals.

Finally, it occurred to him that with his knowledge of language he might
be able to get a job with an import-export company. He selected one such
company and wrote a letter to the owner.

Two weeks later he received an answer, but was hardly prepared for the
vindictiveness of the man's reply. Among other things, it said that even
if they did need someone, they wouldn't hire him because he couldn't
even write good English.

Crushed, Kudar's hurt quickly turned to anger. What right did this rude,
arrogant man have to tell him he couldn't write the language! The man
was obviously crude and uneducated -- his letter was chock-full of
grammatical errors!

Kudar sat down and, in the white heat of anger, wrote a scathing reply,
calculated to rip the man to shreds. When he'd finished, however, as he
was reading it over, his anger began to drain away. Then he remembered
the biblical admonition, "A soft answer turned away wrath."

No, he wouldn't mail the letter. Maybe the man was right. English was
not his native tongue. Maybe he did need further study in it. Possibly
this man had done him a favor by making him realize he did need to work
harder on perfecting his English.

Kudar tore up the letter and wrote another. This time he apologized for
the previous letter, explained his situation, and thanked the man for
pointing out his need for further study.

Two days later, he received a phone call inviting him to New York for an
interview. A week later, he went to work for them as a correspondent.
Later, Joseph Kudar became vice president and executive officer of the
company, destined to succeed the man he had hated and sought revenge
against for a fleeting moment -- and then resisted.

source: http://www.sermons.org/illustrations/r/revenge.htm

Why He Left The Bus Not Caring About His Ticket

I did not come from a rich home but from a poor one. My parents were
just orphan children. The only thing they were able to do was to try to
supply us with our daily bread and help us so that we might be able to
go through school and get a bit of education. That was a hard task.

My father worked far away from Jerusalem and once a month he would be
able to visit our home. Every time he came he would have only about four
Palestinian pounds, equal to about twelve dollars in those days. He
would give some to the grocer, some to the baker, and some here and
there, and then go back to work again. That is all we were able to see
our father, just once a month.

One day as we four hungry boys came home from school, we came to our
mother and asked for a piece of bread, but mother was not able to give
us any bread. She asked us to go and play. We continued playing until
night came. About 7:00 o'clock we came back again, wondering why mother
was sad. We said, "Mother, we are hungry." She would not say anything to
us.

She washed our hands, feet and faces, and then said, "Come on, children,
come and go to bed now. Pray your prayers and go to sleep." But we said,
"Mother, we want bread. We are hungry. What is the matter with you?" She
would not answer us but made us all kneel and pray, and then said,
"Goodnight, children." She lowered the gas light so that we might go to
sleep.

The four of us began to weep, each looking to the others with tears
rolling down his cheeks. We were hungry and we wanted bread. Mother
would not give us bread. Why was mother so cruel? Had we done anything
wrong that she would not give us bread? With tears in our eyes we
finally went to sleep.

At 2: 00 o'clock in the morning I awoke, crying, "Mother, mother." She
came close to me and said, "What do you want, Samuel?" I said, "Mother,
I cannot sleep. I want bread." I could notice, although the gas light
was low, bright tears rolling down her cheeks.

She went away and brought me a cup of water and said,
"Samuel, drink water." I said, "Mother, it is not water I want. It is
bread I want."When I noticed her weeping I stopped my tears, wondering
what was the matter. I drank the water and went to sleep again.

When morning came we all got up hungry and with tears still in our eyes.
We did not know what to do, and mother did not dare tell anybody that we
needed bread. Then she broke into tears and said, "Children, pray. We do
not have bread at home. We do not know what to do. We do not know when
our father will come back, and we do not have bread."

We said, "What are we going to do? We cannot go to school if you do not
give us bread." She said, "Come, let us pray to the Father in Heaven."
We sat around the table. All five of us began to weep and cry for bread.
We said, "Father, send us bread. Father, send us bread." While we were
praying -- thank God for His miraculous hand - there was a knock at the
door.

The moment the knock came my mother said, "Keep quiet, children. Do not
make any noise. Do not let anyone know what we are praying and what our
need is. Let only God know about this."

She wiped her tears and went to the door. When she opened it a man came
in. He was a dear believer with a basket in his hand full of bread and
cheese. When we saw the basket, he turned to us and said, "Children,
take. This is bread. Your Father sent it." We all ran to that basket. I
took a loaf in my hand, cut it, and began to eat it as a hungry child. I
was so glad that father had sent us bread.

Only after some years had passed did I find that it was not my father. I
went to that believer and said, "My dear brother, I want you to tell me
what made you come to our home and give us that bread?"

He said, "Samuel, I bought all those things to take to Bethlehem to my
family. I got my ticket and sat waiting for the bus to move. A Voice
within me said, 'Rise. Take all that you have bought to the family down
in the Valley of Kidron and give it to them.' I said, 'No, it is late. I
must get home and give this to my family and come back to my business.'

But the Voice continued, saying, 'Rise. Take it to that family.' I said,
'But they do not need this bread.' But the Voice within me kept saying,
'You rise and go. They need this bread.'" He continued, "I could not
disobey that Voice. I got up and left the bus, not caring about the
ticket I had purchased. I walked down to the Valley of Kidron and before
knocking I put my ears to the door and could hear hungry children crying
and praying, 'Father, send us bread.'

The moment I heard that I could wait no longer. I knocked at the door
and when it was opened I said, 'Your Father sent this bread. Take it.' I
gave everything I had."While he was telling me that story I was
rejoicing.

How wonderful is the God in whom we believe. He is the God of Elijah,
supplying our every need today. He is a great God! I praise the Lord
that I believe in such a supreme Being who is "able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us." "My God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
 

From "My Life Story" By Samuel Doctorian
http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/1801-1900/HDM1861.PDF

James Reddick: Sacrifice of a father

It was the most natural thing for an eastern shepherd to risk his life
in defense of his flock. The true shepherd never hesitated to risk and
even to lay down his life for the sheep.

One Saturday a dentist called James Reddick decided to teach
his twelve year old daughter and eleven year old son the joy of mountain
walking. He took them up on to Washington's Mount Rainier. All was going
well and they were having a great time, until a sudden storm blew up
that battered them with hurricane force winds and thick wet sheets of
snow. A blinding white-out made it impossible to see or move on the
steep slopes.

So James laboriously dug an oblong trench with his small aluminian mess
kit, then he tucked his children into sleeping bags away from the
entrance. He covered the entrance with tarpaulin which just kept blowing
away, exposing the trench to the swirling snow outside.

Reddick discovered that the only way to hold down the tarpaulin was to
lie directly across the opening, using his own body weight. His body
protected his son and daughter from the howling wind.

Two days passed before rescuers spotted the corner of a rucksack
protruding from the deep snow. They rushed to the site hoping that the
snow covered mound would contain their three missing mountaineers.

Inside they found Sharon and David Reddick very much alive, but the cold

and stiff body of their father was laid against one wall of the snow
cave. He had taken the "cold spot" by using his own body as the outer
wall.

James Reddick made an amazing decision of love when he decided to
sacrifice of his life so that his children could live.
 
Source:

The Cookie Regret

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big
airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to
spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies.

She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and
read in peace. Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man
sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading.

When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt
irritated but said nothing. She just thought:  "What a nerve! If I was in
the mood I would punch him for daring!"

For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but
she didn't want to cause a scene.

When only one cookie remained, she thought: "ah. What this abusive man do
now?" Then, the man, taking the last cookie, divided it into half, giving
her one half. Ah! That was too much!

She was much too angry now! In a huff, she took her book, her things and
stormed to the boarding place.

When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse
to take her eyeglasses, and, to her surprise, her packet of cookies was
there, untouched, unopened!

She felt so ashamed!! She realized that she was wrong.
She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse. The man had
divided his cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter.

.while she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies
with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself.nor to apologize."

There are 4 things that you cannot recover.
The stone..after the throw!
The word. .after it's said!
The occasion.. after the loss!
The time..after it's gone!

Oprah Winfrey - "Use Your Life Award"



Born Jan 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Oprah Winfrey was reared by her grandmom on a farm where she "began her broadcasting career" by learning to read aloud
and perform recitations at the age of 3.

From age 6 to 13, she lived in Milwaukee with her mother. After suffering
abused by a number of male relatives and friends of her mother,
she ran away and was sent to a juvenile detention home at the age
of 13, only to be denied admission because all the beds were filled.

As a last resort, she was sent to Nashville to live under her father's
strict discipline. "As strict as he was," says Oprah, "he had some concerns
about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than
what he thought was my best."

Oprah Winfrey's broadcasting career began at age 17, when she was hired by
WVOL radio in Nashville, and two years later signed on with WTVF-TV in
Nashville as a reporter/anchor. She attended Tennessee State University,
where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts.

In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV news as a co-anchor, and in
1978 discovered her talent for hosting talk shows when she became co-host of
WJZ-TV's "People Are Talking," while continuing to serve as anchor and news
reporter.

In January 1984, she came to Chicago to host WLS-TV's "AM Chicago," a
faltering local talk show. In less than a year, she turned "AM Chicago" into
the hottest show in town. The format was soon expanded to one hour, and in
Sep 1985 it was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

In June 1988, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" received its second consecutive
Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and she herself
received the International Radio and Television Society's "Broadcaster of
the Year" Award. She was the youngest person and only the fifth woman ever
to receive the honor in IRTS's 25-year history.

In 1991, motivated in part by her own memories of childhood abuse, she
initiated a campaign to establish a national database of convicted child
abusers, and testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of
a National Child Protection Act.

President Clinton signed the "Oprah Bill" into law in 1993, establishing the
national database she had sought, which is now available to law enforcement
agencies and concerned parties across the country.

She is one of the partners in Oxygen Media, Inc., a cable channel and
interactive network presenting programming designed primarily for women.

In 2000, Oprah's Angel Network began presenting a $100,000 "Use Your Life
Award" to people who are using their lives to improve the lives of others.

When Forbes magazine published its list of America's billionaires for the
year 2003, it disclosed that Oprah Winfrey was the first African-American
woman to become a billionaire.

Source : http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9534419

Life Without Limbs

First born child in his Christian family, Nick Vujicic was born limbless in
Melbourne, Australia on 4 Dec 1982. His parents were devastated; however, it
seemed that Nick would survive, but his life was going to be filled with
difficulties and hardships.

One of these such hardships was not being able to attend a main-stream
school because of his physical disability, as the law of Australia required,
even though he was not mentally impaired.

However, the laws were changed, and Nick was one of the first disabled
students to be migrated to a mainstream school. Being bullied at his school,
Nick grew extremely depressed, and at the age of ten, started contemplating
suicide.

After begging God to grow arms and legs, Nick eventually began to realize
that his accomplishments were inspirational to many, and began to thank God
he was alive.

He said, "I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for
something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's
will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better...
Something's never change... But something's do..."

When he was seventeen, he starting to give talks at his prayer group, and
eventually starting his non-profit organisation, Life Without Limbs.

Nick completed university at the age of 21, and began travels as a
motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today's teenagers face. He
also speaks in the corporate sector, however his aim is to become an
international inspirational speaker, in both Christian and non-Christian
venues.

By the age of 25 he wishes to become financially independant, however he
wishes to promote his words through shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, as
well as writing books. His first book, planned for completion by the end of
2006, is to be called 'No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!'

Source:

The Woodcutter's Wisdom by Max Lucado

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was
envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. People offered fabulous
prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. "This horse is a
friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?"

One morning he found his horse was not in the stable. All the village came
to see and scoffed him, "We told you that someone would steal your horse. It
would have been better to have sold him. Now the horse is gone, and you've
been cursed with misfortune."

The old man responded, "Don't speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is
not in the stable. That is all we know. If I've been cursed or not, how can
you judge?" The people contested, "Don't make us out to be fools! The simple
fact that your horse is gone is a curse."

The old man spoke again. "All I know is that the stable is empty, and the
horse is gone. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come
next?" The people laughed. They had always thought he was fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned with a dozen wild horses. He hadn't
been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Once again the village people
gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. "Old man, you were right. What we
thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us."

The man responded, "You go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State
only that a dozen horses returned with him. Life is so vast, yet you judge
all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! I am
content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don't."

"Maybe the old man is right," they said to one another. But down deep, they
knew he was wrong.

The old man had an only son. The young man began to train the wild horses.
After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs.

Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their
judgements. They said. "The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a
curse." The old man spoke again. "Don't go so far. Say only that my son
broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse?"

A few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country.
All young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of
the old man was excluded, because injured.

Once again people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because
their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return.

They wept, "Yours son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but
at least he is with you." The old man spoke again, "You always draw
conclusions. Say only: Your sons had to go to war, and mine not. No one is
wise enough to know if it is a blessing or a curse. Only God knows."   * * *

The old man was right. We only have a fragment of our whole life story. We
must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgement on life's
storms until we know the whole story.

"Do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34). God is the Author of our life
stories and HE has already written the final chapter. "Although the world is
full of suffering, it is also full of overcomings" - Hellen Keller Source:
http://www.maxlucado.com/pdf/woodcutters.wisdom.pdf

Champion Never Quit



When Glenn V. Cunningham was 6, he and his brother Floyd had the
chore of starting a fire in the schoolhouse stove every cold morning. One
Feb morning in 1916, the kerosene container had accidentally been filled
with gasoline. The stove exploded. Floyd was killed and Glenn's legs were so
badly burned.

When Glenn was 8 the doctors recommended amputating his legs, but his
mother didn't allow it. The doctors predicted he might never walk normally
again. However, his great determination led him to gradually regain the
ability to walk.

After several weeks in bed, he was able to walk on crutches. Finally, he got
rid of the crutches but, as he said later, "It hurt like thunder to walk,
but it didn't hurt at all when I ran. So for 5 or 6 yrs, about all I
did was run."

Cunningham set a world record for the mile and indoor world records for the
1500 meters and the mile. He was on the 1932 n1936 Olympic teams.

Because of circulation problems caused by his childhood accident, Cunningham
needed nearly an hour to prepare for a race. He first had to massage his
legs and he then required a long warm up period.

Despite the fact that smoke bothered him, he turned in outstanding
performances at Madison Square Garden, where he won 22 indoor miles.

Cunningham had a master's degree from the University of Iowa and a
doctorate from New York University, retired from competition in 1940 and for
4 yrs was director of physical education at Cornell College in Iowa.

After spending 2 yrs in the Navy, Cunningham and his wife opened the Glenn
Cunningham Youth Ranch in Kansas, where they helped to raise about 10,000
underprivileged children. A lay preacher, Cunningham periodically went on
lecture tours to raise money for the ranch.

"Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable
and attain the impossible. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you
can dream it, you can become it.~ William Arthur Ward"
Source:

Saved From Being Hit by the Wooden Beams

By Yen Yen One afternoon in March 2024, a handyman of mine was renovating an upstairs room in my house. While he was carrying a few long...