The legendary life of Khaled Saunders, the founder of KFC

KFC is a household name in China.

The old gentleman with a white suit, a black bow tie and a kind smile always welcomes visitors from all directions, rain or shine.

He is the old man Sanders, who is known as the "king of fried chicken" in America.

Saunders is a late bloomer.

The secret recipe of fried chicken he prepared by himself is famous all over the world for welcoming guests from afar with a family atmosphere in his small restaurant.

it was not until he was 65 years old that he founded KFC fried chicken shop, which made him gain great reputation and wealth.

Khaled Sanders was born in Halliwell, South Indian in 189.

when Saunders was five years old, his father died suddenly, leaving no property.

In order to support three children, my mother had to work in a nearby factory.

Young Saunders began to take care of his siblings at home and learned to cook by himself.

at the age of seven, he made a piece of bread with meat and sent it to a factory three miles away for his mother to taste, which was praised by his mother and his workmates.

at the age of 12, his mother remarried, and his stepfather was very strict with him. He often beat him up when his mother went out to work, so he had to leave home to make a living.

He keeps changing jobs. Even so, he is confident that he will succeed in the future.

at the age of 16, he lied about his age and joined the army on an expedition to Cuba.

He got seasick badly during the voyage, was sent back to China in advance, and soon retired from the army and returned to his hometown.

This time he joined the army, he was given the title of "Colonel".

In order to make a living, he worked as a tram dispatcher, a ferry driver and a railway worker in the south.

While working on the Southern Railway, Sanders met a beautiful young girl, Josephine King, in Alabama and got married a few months later.

Soon after their marriage, they had a lovely daughter. Their son was born in 1911, and another daughter was born in 1919.

But it's not easy to be Saunders' wife. He has a bad temper, and the railway work makes him unable to take care of his family for a long time, so the relationship between husband and wife is getting worse and worse.

In 1921, Saunders joined Putianshou Insurance Company to engage in sales promotion and soon became the company's red man.

But it didn't last long, and he resigned because he fell out with his boss on the bonus issue.

Later, at the instigation of his friends, he once started to practice as a lawyer, but his career did not last long.

He had a fistfight with a client during a trial in court.

In his thirties, Saunders lost his job, but he never lost heart.

at the age of 34, he finally found a chance to develop his talents.

He worked as a tire salesman for Michelin Company, giving full play to his imagination and creativity, and his career was very successful.

but in 1924, misfortune befell him again.

once, when driving across the bridge, the supporting steel rope broke, and he fell off the bridge with his car.

Saunders was injured and could no longer work for that company.

His experience as a tire salesman made him feel that cars will be a necessity in the future of America, and the refueling industry will have a bright future.

In 193, Saunders moved to Keben, Kentucky, and opened a Shell gas station in this small town that was not prosperous at that time.

At that time, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, and business was very bad in the first week. Everyone had to live on oats.

Saunders put up a big billboard beside the highway, hoping that business would get better as soon as possible.

This caused friction between him and his competitors around him. Saunders shot and injured each other, and was almost prosecuted for it.

once, the truck driver who came here to refuel complained to him that it was difficult to find a suitable place to eat around.

Sanders suddenly felt that another development opportunity was coming.

He transformed a small storage room into a small restaurant that can accommodate six people, and began to teach his wife how to cook.

He recommended the Kentucky ham and fried chicken made by Josephine to the customers who came to refuel.

everyone felt good after tasting it.

after the praise came out, Sanders had to expand his restaurant.

by 1934, the small restaurant was too busy to rely on the Saunders.

they hired a divorced lady, Claudia.

Claudia is smart, optimistic and cheerful, and doesn't mind Saunders' bad temper at all.

soon, business became more and more prosperous, and Sanders decided to open a coffee shop next to the gas station.

at that time, it took 3 minutes to fry a pot of chicken legs, which made people who came here to taste it queue up.

Saunders thought the taste of fried chicken was very important. He began to study seasonings, and made his eldest daughter as the chief taster. Finally, he created a secret recipe made of 11 seasonings, which has never changed.

By the time Saunders was in his forties, his cooking level had been widely praised.

in 1935, the governor of Kentucky awarded Saunders the honorary title of "Colonel KFC".

The name "KFC" comes from this.

in the late 194s, the construction of American highways rose on a large scale. With the completion of highways, Americans began an unprecedented journey.

At the same time, with the development of the hotel industry, Sanders discovered this trend and built a hotel next to the coffee shop.

At that time, motels had a bad reputation and poor sanitation, so many decent people chose to stay in hotels located in the city.

In order to change this prejudice, Saunders made his hotel quite comfortable and clean.

He also set aside a room in the center of the restaurant as a model room for people to visit in advance to decide whether to stay here.

this has played a good role in promoting sales, and hotels are often full.

in the late 194s, great changes took place in Saunders' personal life.

In 1947, he divorced Josephine, and the children were deeply affected. They were very sympathetic to their mother who had worked hard for so many years.

On November 17th, 1949, Saunders married Claudia, and since then, Saunders has started a new life.

he became interested in public activities.

in 1951, he ran for the Senate, but he lost in the end.

This makes Saunders feel that he should focus on what he is good at.

While Saunders' restaurant business is booming, the massive construction of highways threatens his career development.

In 1955, a road to be built passed through his restaurant, and Sanders had to sell his business for 75, dollars.

Sanders is 65 years old at this time.

it seems to people that he should retire.

But Sanders didn't live on social security like many people, but he still kept his old job.

He contacted small restaurants all over the world with his own technology and secret recipe, taught small business owners fried chicken skills and was strict with them in quality.

by 1963, he always controlled more than 6 fried chicken shops.

By the age of 75, Saunders felt that he could not support such a huge restaurant chain on his own.

in the end, he decided to sell KFC for $2 million.

Nevertheless, KFC can't live without Saunders, and the new owner continues to ask Saunders to advertise this increasingly popular fast food on TV.

KFC's success made its new owner decide to issue shares and offer Saunders 1, shares as part of the purchase price. But Saunders never believed in stocks, and he refused.

People comment: This is why Sanders didn't become a billionaire.

Later, the company's stock soared, and even his secretary made millions.

By 1968, KFC had more than 2, employees, and 21 of them became millionaires.

KFC changed hands again after it was sold for seven years.

In 1971, Hebrew Company bought KFC chain stores for $28 million.

Since then, Saunders' image has appeared in KFC packaging and advertisements, but other than that, he has nothing to do with KFC.

Saunders was deeply infected by the rapid development of fast food industry.

at the age of 83, he and his wife Claudia started a French fast food restaurant.

However, Hebrew Company forbids Sanders to use his head as a signboard, which is considered to be in conflict with the trademark they use.

This made Saunders very surprised and sad.

Saunders said that he has been very generous in helping others, but now he is even deprived of the right to use his name and avatar.

in January, 1974, Saunders sued Hebrew Company, claiming that it interfered with his right to operate independently and demanded compensation of $122 million.

For Sanders, who is not greedy, the lawsuit is not for money, but for justice.

Hebrew Company later sought an out-of-court settlement.

In June 198, Saunders was diagnosed with cancer, but it didn't destroy his spirit. He said, "People often complain about the bad weather. In fact, it's not bad weather, but different good weather.

In December 198, Saunders died at the age of 9. All KFC branches mourned the old man, and even its competitor, McDonald's, flew flags at half mast.

after his death, Saunders was buried in Kivohale Cemetery in Kentucky.

The bust statue erected there was also built by him before his death.

when he was alive, he often touched and looked at the statue.

Now, his graveyard has become a famous scenic spot.

Today, there are more than 1, KFC branches all over the world.

Sanders' smiling face has not become history, and he is still welcoming groups of diners.