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.
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.
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