Harland Sanders

  Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana (near Louisville, Kentucky).  When Sanders was five years old, his father died, forcing his mother to work in a cannery.[9]  This left Sanders, as the eldest son, to care for his two younger siblings.[9]  After he reached the age of seven, his mother taught him how to cook.[10]  After leaving the family at home at the age of 13, Sanders went through several professions, with mixed success.[11]  In 1930, he took over a Shell gas station on US Route 25 just outside North Corbin, Kentucky, a small town on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains.[12]  It was here that he first served for travelers the recipes he had learned as a child: fried chicken and other dishes such as steak and village ham.[12] After four years of serving from his own dining room table, Sanders purchased a larger gas station.  across the street and grew to six tables. By 1963 there were 600 KFC restaurants, making the company the larges