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Colonel Sanders
Harland David Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, was an American entrepreneur and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. His name and image are still symbols of the company today.
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business · American entrepreneur (1890–1980) · cook · restaurateur · entrepreneur · brand ambassador · writer · also Colonel Sanders, Colonel Harland Sanders, Colonel Harland David Sanders, Col. Harland David Sanders, Col. Harland Sanders, Col. Sanders
Born 9 September 1890 · Died 16 December 1980 · Q120450
47 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 2 entries
Public attention spiked: 34,714 Wikipedia readers in one day, 12.3× the usual 2,832, with 0 article edits.
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2025· 2 entries
Sanders decided to begin to franchise his chicken concept in earnest, and traveled the US looking for suitable restaurants
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French-Brazilian chef and TV personality Érick Jacquin portrayed Colonel Sanders on KFC's Brazilian commercials of its "Crunch Salad" sandwich
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2020· 1 entry
Snopes rated the claim “The Lifetime network is airing a romance-drama about Kentucky Fried Chicken's mascot, Colonel Sanders.” True.
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2019· 2 entries
Snopes rated the claim “Colonel Sanders' original fried chicken recipe was stolen from a black woman named Miss Childress.” Unproven.
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A free video game was commissioned by the restaurant chain KFC and released for free called I Love You, Colonel Sanders
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2017· 4 entries
PolitiFact rated the claim ““Donald Trump praises Colonel Sanders for his service in the Civil War.”” Pants on Fire.
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Snopes rated the claim “President Trump praised KFC founder Colonel Sanders, who wasn't born until 1890, for his service during the Civil War.” False.
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WWE returned to using Colonel Sanders, showing ads of Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle playing him, and announcing that Colonel Sanders would be available as a playable character in WWE 2K18, accessible through the "create-
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KFC released a 96-page romance novella, Tender Wings of Desire, in time for Mother's Day
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2016· 2 entries
Snopes rated the claim “Inspirational Internet postings recount the high and low points in the life of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders.” Mixture.
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According to its tax return filed with the Canada Revenue Agency
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2011· 1 entry
A manuscript of a book on cooking that Sanders apparently wrote in the mid-1960s was found in KFC archives
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2010· 1 entry
The Oscar-winning animated short Logorama prominently featured a rotoscoped depiction of Colonel Sanders during the early fast-food restaurant scenes
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2003· 1 entry
2005, and 2014, Hanshin prevailed in 2023
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1985· 1 entry
A statue of Colonel Sanders was thrown into a river and lost during a fan celebration
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1980· 1 entry
Died 1980-12-16.
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1973· 1 entry
Sanders sued Heublein Inc
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1965· 2 entries
Awarded Horatio Alger Award (1965).
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Sanders moved to Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, to oversee his Canadian franchises and continued to collect franchise and appearance fees in Canada and in the US
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1964· 2 entries
Then 73 years old, he sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation for $2 million ($20
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Then 73 years old, he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y
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1962· 1 entry
Sanders obtained a patent protecting his method of pressure frying chicken, and trademarked the phrase "It's Finger Lickin' Good" in 1963
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1959· 1 entry
After closing the North Corbin site, Sanders and Claudia opened a new restaurant and company headquarters in Shelbyville
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1952· 1 entry
Sanders franchised his secret recipe "Kentucky Fried Chicken" for the first time, to Pete Harman of South Salt Lake, Utah, the operator of one of that city's largest restaurants
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1950· 2 entries
By Governor Lawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing a goatee and wearing a black frock coat (later switching to a white suit) and a black ribbon bow tie, and referring to himself as "Colonel"
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Sanders was "re-commissioned" as a Kentucky Colonel by his friend, Governor Lawrence Wetherby
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1949· 1 entry
Sanders married Claudia, as he had long desired
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1939· 1 entry
Food critic Duncan Hines visited Sanders's restaurant and included it in Adventures in Good Eating, his guide to restaurants throughout the US
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1936· 1 entry
Awarded Kentucky Colonel (1936).
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1930· 2 entries
The station closed as a result of the Great Depression
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The Shell Oil Company offered Sanders a service station in North Corbin, Kentucky, rent-free, in return for paying the company a percentage of sales
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1924· 2 entries
When Michelin closed its New Jersey manufacturing plant
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By chance, he met the general manager of Standard Oil of Kentucky, who asked him to run a service station in Nicholasville
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1920· 1 entry
At age 30, Sanders established a ferry boat company, which operated a boat on the Ohio River between Jeffersonville and Louisville
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1916· 1 entry
The family moved to Jeffersonville, where Sanders got a job selling life insurance for the Prudential Life Insurance Company
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1912· 1 entry
In Tuscumbia, Alabama, and died on September 15, 1932, in Martinsville, Indiana, from infected tonsils; and Mildred Marie Sanders Ruggles, born October 15, 1919, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and died September 21, 2010, i
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1909· 1 entry
Sanders found laboring work with the Norfolk and Western Railway
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1906· 1 entry
With his mother's approval, Sanders left the area to live with his uncle in New Albany, Indiana
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1903· 1 entry
At age 12, he dropped out of seventh grade, later stating that "algebra's what drove [him] off", and went to live and work on a nearby farm
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1902· 1 entry
Sanders's mother married William Broaddus and the family moved to Greenwood, Indiana
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1900· 1 entry
Sanders began to work as a farmhand
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1899· 1 entry
His mother married Edward Park, but according to the 1900 census, his mother was widowed again
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1897· 1 entry
Was reportedly skilled with bread and vegetables, and improving with meat
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1890· 2 entries
Born 1890-09-09.
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In a four-room house located 3 miles (5 km) east of Henryville, Indiana
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