While many people can say they've tasted the chicken at KFC, most don't know that the beloved
chicken chain has a colorful history behind its success.
There's a lot more to this chain than crispy fried chicken and a handful of delicious sides.
Here is everything you never knew about KFC.
Gas station food
Nobody wants to eat gas station food, but every time you devour KFC's legendary chicken,
that's exactly what you're getting.
Yep, it's true: KFC actually started in a gas station.
In the early 1930s, Harland Sanders was running a service station when a customer complained
that he couldn't find any good food in the area.
Sanders, who had learned to cook as a child, saw an opportunity and converted a storage
room into a small diner.
"I fed truck drivers and millionaires all at the same table.
I didn't know anything about the restaurant business.
I didn't know what table to hold, a la carte, all of that meant."
It was a hit, and by the time Colonel Sanders sold the company in 1964, there were more
than 600 Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises.
Kentucky fried justice
In 1991, Kentucky Fried Chicken shocked the poultry-eating world when the company changed
its name to KFC.
Publicly, it claimed to be dropping the "Fried" part because it wanted to be associated with
healthier eating.
But it was actually the "Kentucky" part that was the real problem.
In 1990, the Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked the name "Kentucky" and began charging money
for businesses to use it.
Kentucky Fried Chicken refused and simply changed the chain's name to KFC instead.
There is a happy ending, though: in 2006, the two sides resolved their issues, and KFC
once again regained the right to be known as Kentucky Fried Chicken.
That calls for a celebratory sandwich!
"Saaaaaandwiiiich!!"
Christmas in Japan
If you ever find yourself spending Christmas in Japan, don't be surprised when, instead
of a turkey or ham dinner, you end up celebrating with KFC.
The tradition took off in the 1970s after a group of foreigners couldn't find turkey
for Christmas and decided to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken instead.
KFC seized on the idea, and soon "Kentucky for Christmas" spread throughout the country.
Today, people stand in line for hours each Christmas eve for a special KFC Christmas
chicken dinner, which is served with champagne and cake.
Secret Twitter recipe
While the KFC chicken recipe is kept under lock and key, savvy Twitter users noticed
something intriguing about KFC's account.
The company only follows 11 other accounts, which is significant since their signature
secret recipe consists of 11 herbs and spices.
The accounts KFC follows?
All five members of the Spice Girls and six men named Herb.
Nice.
The Wendy's connection
KFC as we know it wouldn't have existed without help from Dave Thomas.
While working for KFC, Thomas came up with the idea for the iconic red and white striped
chicken bucket, the streamlined menu, and the rotating chicken bucket signage.
He also encouraged Sanders to appear in commercials and become the face of the brand, advice he
later took himself after leaving KFC to found Wendy's.
Redacted
There's an FBI file on Colonel Sanders that, while accessible to the public, has entire
sections blacked out.
The file includes background info on Sanders as well as copies of letters he sent to FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover.
The file is 15 pages long and a note at the beginning makes it clear that Sanders has
never been the subject of an FBI investigation, which makes the blacked out sections even
more intriguing.
Could it contain the secret recipe?!
"And then we have four ounces."
"Four ounces of what?"
"Four ounces of...four ounces of grandfather's overcoat."
Crossover appeal
In recent years, KFC has become a bit of a phenomenon, and not just at Japanese Christmas.
For starters, there are those head-scratchingly surreal TV commercials, which are filled with
pop culture references.
"Chicken with fries.
Chicken with fries.
Chicken with fries."
But they've also branched out into video games, releasing the 8-bit "Colonel Quest" in 2015,
and the VR cooking simulator "The Hard Way" in 2017.
And in 2015, KFC teamed up with DC Comics for the first in a series of action packed
comic books starring Colonel Sanders.
No CGI needed for this moustache!
Colonel Sanders hated KFC
After selling KFC, Sanders remained the face of the brand, with actors and even puppets
portraying him as the company's mascot long after he passed away in 1980.
"Howdy folks!
It's me, the real Colonel Sanders."
But Sanders quickly grew to regret his decision to sell the franchise.
He claimed that people recognized him wherever he went and would stop him to complain about
KFC's food, complaints that he took personally and completely agreed with.
After visiting a franchise in New York City, Sanders said it was
"the worst fried chicken I've ever seen."
The gravy was simply terrible, with Sanders calling it
"nothing more than wallpaper paste."
Hey, at least Reba McEntire likes it.
"I swear I'm not a famous woman!"