In 1952, Colonel Harland Sanders struck his first franchise deal with Pete Harman in South Salt Lake City, Utah. The 62-year-old Sanders had perfected his pressure-cooking method and blend of 11 herbs and spices during the Great Depression at his Kentucky roadside restaurant. Now he was ready to share his secret recipe with the world through franchising.

The deal was simple but revolutionary - Harman paid Sanders just four cents for every chicken sold using his recipe. A sign painter named Don Anderson coined the name "Kentucky Fried Chicken," choosing it because the recipe originated in Kentucky and evoked Southern hospitality. In Utah, this Kentucky connection made the product unique.

Harman struck gold immediately - restaurant sales tripled in the first year, with 75% of the increase coming from fried chicken sales. The success was so dramatic that other restaurant owners began approaching Sanders for franchise opportunities. Harman had found the perfect way to differentiate his establishment from competitors.

This single franchise deal launched a global empire. Sanders hit the road in his white suit, traveling restaurant to restaurant to pitch his recipe. What started as a handshake agreement in Utah grew into one of the world's largest fast-food chains, proving that revolutionary business ideas can begin with the simplest partnerships.

In 1964, Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered an 888-page commission report to President Lyndon Johnson, concluding the most extensive investigation in American history. The commission had spent ten months investigating JFK's assassination - far longer than the couple of months originally planned when formed just seven days after Dallas.

The investigation was unprecedented in scope - testimony from over 550 witnesses, more than 3,100 FBI and Secret Service reports, and cooperation from 10 federal departments, 14 agencies, and 4 congressional committees. Key evidence included Abraham Zapruder's home movie of the assassination, and commissioners made multiple trips to Dallas to examine the scene.

The conclusions were definitive - Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy and acted entirely alone. Jack Ruby also acted alone when killing Oswald. The report determined that bullets from Oswald's sixth-floor rifle in the Texas School Book Depository caused all of Kennedy's wounds and likely Governor Connally's injuries too.

Immediate controversy erupted that continues today. Critics disputed the "lone gunman" theory, arguing that ballistics evidence and Zapruder's film contradicted the commission's conclusions about three bullets causing all the damage. This skepticism led to a 1979 congressional investigation concluding Kennedy was "probably" killed in a conspiracy, ensuring the debate endures.

The Bone Wars🦴
The Bone Wars involved paleontologists literally dynamiting fossil sites to prevent rivals from finding dinosaurs. In the 1870s, competing scientists Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope hired armed guards, sabotaged each other's digs, and used explosives to destroy fossil sites rather than let their rivals discover new species - academic rivalry turned into actual warfare.

Ancient Druid Sacrifice🔥
Ancient Druids performed human sacrifice by burning people alive in giant wicker effigies. Celtic druids would build massive human-shaped structures out of wicker, stuff them with live prisoners, and set them on fire as religious offerings - mass murder disguised as spiritual ceremony.

Salem Witch Mayhem🥖
The Salem Witch Trials were triggered by ergot poisoning from moldy rye bread. The accusers were likely tripping on a natural hallucinogen that grows on rye grain - so the entire witch hysteria that killed 20 people was probably caused by contaminated bread making people see things that weren't there.

An Expensive Death⚱️
Marcus Crassus, the richest man in Rome, died by having molten gold poured down his throat. After being captured by Parthians in 53 BCE, they executed him by pouring liquid gold into his mouth as punishment for his greed - the ultimate ironic death for someone who loved money more than anything.

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