KFC History: The Colonel, the Recipe, the First Franchise and the Company Today
Harland Sanders started serving fried chicken in 1930 at a roadside motel and service station in Corbin, Kentucky, settled his blend of 11 herbs and spices in 1939, and franchised the recipe for the first time in 1952 near Salt Lake City, Utah, where the bucket was invented five years later. He sold the company in 1964 and spent the rest of his life as its face and its critic. Today KFC has nearly 34,000 restaurants in 149 countries and territories under Yum! Brands, with KFC U.S. headquartered in Plano, Texas since 2025. The timeline below is drawn from KFC’s own history page and the parent company’s records, with the myths marked, and it ends with why any of this belongs on a menu site: the pressure fryer, the franchise structure and the bucket explain most of what the prices on this site do.
The timeline
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1890 | Harland Sanders is born on 9 September near Henryville, Indiana. |
| 1930 | At 40, Sanders buys a roadside motel and service station in Corbin, Kentucky, and serves his fried chicken to travelers. |
| 1935 | The governor of Kentucky makes him an honorary Kentucky Colonel; the title is a state honor with no regiment attached. |
| 1939 | Sanders settles the blend of 11 herbs and spices, still in use and still secret, and adopts the pressure fryer that cooks the chicken in minutes. |
| 1950 | The white suit appears; he wears one in public for the rest of his life. |
| 1952 | The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opens near Salt Lake City, Utah, at Pete Harman’s restaurant, on a handshake and a nickel a chicken. |
| 1957 | The bucket is introduced at the Harman restaurants and becomes the brand’s signature package. |
| 1964 | Sanders sells the company to a group of investors for a reported $2 million and stays on as its public face, and its sharpest critic. |
| 1971 | Heublein buys the company; R.J. Reynolds follows in 1982. |
| 1976 | An independent survey names the Colonel the second most recognizable celebrity in the world. |
| 1980 | Harland Sanders dies at 90. |
| 1986 | PepsiCo buys the chain. |
| 1991 | The brand adopts the name KFC. |
| 1997 | PepsiCo spins its restaurants off as Tricon Global Restaurants, renamed Yum! Brands in 2002. |
| 2020 | The “finger lickin’ good” slogan is paused during the pandemic and later returns. |
| 2022 | Beyond Fried Chicken runs nationally for a limited time, the first plant-based item on the US menu. |
| 2024 | KFC Rewards launches: 10 points a dollar on app and kfc.com orders. |
| 2025 | KFC U.S. moves its headquarters from Louisville to Plano, Texas; Yum! Brands stays in Louisville. |
| 2026 | The $5 Bowls (January), the Box Feasts (March) and the $10 Bucket of the Day (May) reshape the value menu. |
Dates from KFC’s history page and Yum! Brands; the sale price is the figure widely reported at the time.
The Colonel, fact-checked
| Claim | Verdict |
|---|---|
| He was a military colonel | No. Kentucky Colonel is an honorary title conferred by the state’s governor, first given to Sanders in 1935 |
| He started KFC at 65 with a Social Security check | Partly. He was 62 when the first franchise opened in 1952 and franchised in earnest after a new interstate bypassed his Corbin restaurant in the mid-1950s |
| The recipe is locked in a vault | Yes. The handwritten recipe is kept in a vault at the company’s Louisville offices, and the blend is mixed by more than one supplier so no single contractor holds the whole formula |
| He hated the company’s gravy after the sale | Yes, and said so in public; the gravy page explains the crackling method that survived him |
| The first KFC was in Kentucky | The first restaurant serving his chicken was, in Corbin; the first franchise, and the first restaurant called Kentucky Fried Chicken, was in Utah |
| The 11 herbs and spices have leaked | Every published “leak”, including a 2016 family-scrapbook find, remains unconfirmed by the company |
The company today
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants worldwide | Nearly 34,000 | Yum! Brands |
| Countries and territories | 149 | Yum! Brands |
| Restaurants in the United States | 3,758 listed in the locator | KFC locator, review date |
| Owner | Yum! Brands (also Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Habit Burger & Grill) | Yum! Brands |
| KFC U.S. headquarters | Plano, Texas, since 2025 | KFC U.S. press releases |
| Parent company headquarters | 1900 Colonel Sanders Lane, Louisville, Kentucky | Yum! Brands |
| Team members worldwide | More than 800,000 | Yum! Brands |
| New restaurants | One opens somewhere in the world about every six hours | Yum! Brands |
The owners, in order
| Years | Owner | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 to 1964 | Harland Sanders | The recipe, the pressure fryer, the franchise handshake and the bucket |
| 1964 to 1971 | John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack Massey | Rapid franchising, a public listing and the first restaurants abroad |
| 1971 to 1982 | Heublein | Corporate systems; the era of the Colonel’s public complaints about quality |
| 1982 to 1986 | R.J. Reynolds | A short ownership inside a tobacco and food conglomerate |
| 1986 to 1997 | PepsiCo | The KFC name (1991), the fountain drinks that remain Pepsi products today |
| 1997 to today | Tricon Global Restaurants, renamed Yum! Brands in 2002 | The global expansion to nearly 34,000 restaurants |
Why the history is on a menu site
Because it explains the menu. The pressure fryer is why Original Recipe eats the way it does and why bone-in chicken is cooked in batches, which is the reason the last half hour before close narrows the choice. The franchise handshake of 1952 became a system of independent operators, which is why every price and hour on this site carries a variance note and why the Bucket of the Day is offered at participating restaurants. The bucket of 1957 is still the brand’s load-bearing object, from the 8-piece to the 16-tender meal. And the 11 herbs and spices, still unpublished, are why the secret menu page spends a paragraph on the recipe that is actually secret.
More KFC guides
KFC History FAQs
When was KFC founded?
Sanders began serving fried chicken in Corbin, Kentucky in 1930; the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 near Salt Lake City, Utah, which KFC counts as the brand's start.
Was Colonel Sanders a real colonel?
No. Kentucky Colonel is an honorary title conferred by the state's governor, given to Sanders in 1935.
Is the secret recipe really in a vault?
Yes, in Louisville, and the blend is mixed by more than one supplier so no single contractor holds the whole formula. No published leak has been confirmed.
How much did Colonel Sanders sell KFC for?
A reported $2 million in 1964, plus a salary as the company's spokesman for the rest of his life.
Who owns KFC now?
Yum! Brands, which also owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill. KFC U.S. is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Why did the first franchise open in Utah?
Pete Harman, a Salt Lake City restaurateur Sanders had met at a seminar, agreed to sell the chicken for a nickel a bird in 1952. His restaurants coined the name Kentucky Fried Chicken on the sign and introduced the bucket in 1957.
When did Kentucky Fried Chicken become KFC?
In 1991, under PepsiCo's ownership.
How many KFC restaurants are there in the world?
Nearly 34,000 in 149 countries and territories per Yum! Brands, with 3,758 in the United States per the locator.
When did Colonel Sanders die?
In 1980, at the age of 90, sixteen years after selling the company and still its public face.
Where is KFC headquartered?
KFC U.S. moved to Plano, Texas in 2025. The parent company, Yum! Brands, remains at 1900 Colonel Sanders Lane, Louisville, Kentucky.
Where the facts on this page come from
- KFC Global, Our History company timeline from 1890 to today, restaurant count
- Yum! Brands, KFC brand page restaurant and country counts, first franchise, headquarters
- KFC restaurant locator, locations.kfc.com seven-day hours and services on every restaurant page; 3,758 US restaurants listed on the review date