Sanders was born to a Presbyterian family.

Born and raised in Henryville, Indiana, Sanders passed through several professions in his lifetime.Sanders first served his fried chicken in 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression at a gas station he owned in North Corbin, Kentucky. The dining area was named Sanders Court & Caf and was so successful that in 1935 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon granted Sanders the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel in recognition of his contribution to the state's cuisine. The following year Sanders expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he bought across the street. When Sanders prepared his chicken in his original restaurant in North Corbin, he prepared the chicken in an iron skillet, which took about 30 minutes to do, too long for a restaurant operation. In 1939, Sanders altered the cooking process for his fried chicken to use a pressure fryer, resulting in a greatly reduced cooking time comparable to that of deep frying. In 1940 Sanders devised what came to be known as his Original Recipe. The Sanders Court & Caf generally served travellers, often those headed to Florida, so when the route planned in the 1950s for what would become Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, he sold his properties and travelled the U.S. to sell his chicken to restaurant owners. The first to take him up on the offer was Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah; together, they opened the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" outlet in 1952. Perhaps Sanders had a hard time selling his chicken at first. In fact, his famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it. Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) entered India in 1995 and has been in midst of controversies since then. The regulatory authorities found that KFC's chickens did not adhere to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Chickens contained nearly three times more monosodium glutamate (popularly known as MSG, a flavour enhancing ingredient) as allowed by the Act. Since the late 1990s, KFC faced severe protests by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights protection organization. PETA accused KFC of cruelty towards chickens and released a video tape showing the ill-treatment of birds in KFC's poultry farms. Ultimately, the company had to shut all but one outlet in the country. Only recently in 2003 it made a quiet re-entry into the Indian market. Then came up with the strategies, like targeting higher income group level, and menu that is affordable by the middle income group level like KFC mini burger at Rs.25, and desirable by the Indian consumers like hot spicy chicken which contains Indian spices.

However, undeterred by the protests by PETA and other animal rights organizations, KFC planned a massive expansion program in India. And since 2003 it is expanding successfully its business in India.

The Failure:
Harland David Sanders (better known as Colonel Sanders) endured some of the harshest early failures of all. Despite having what we now know is an undeniably popular chicken recipe, no one wanted it at first. In fact, Sanders endured over 1,000 rejections before finally finding a restaurant that was willing to work with him. Early on, KFC says, Colonel Sanders literally carried the secret spice mixture with him in his car in search of business partners.

The Lesson:
Colonel Sanders early failures are a testament to the power of determination. It would have been all too easy (and quite understandable) to give up after being told no a hundred times never mind one thousand times. But Sanders knew his recipe had value and kept pushing until he found someone who agreed. Perhaps its no surprise that Y Combinators Paul Graham believes determination is the most important quality an entrepreneur can have.