Well! As it turns out, Colonel Sanders was not a real colonel. Born in 1890 in Indiana, he served in the U.S. Army in Cuba starting at age 16, but didn’t make a career of it. By his 40s, he was in running a renowned cafe attached to the Corbin, Ky., gas station he owned. In 1935, the governor named him an honorary “Kentucky Colonel,” kind of like the key to the city, but for Kentucky. The white suit and string tie getup didn’t start until the 1950s. Other honorees of The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (now a nonprofit charity headed by the governor) include:

• Winston Churchill
• Johnny Depp*
• Phyllis Diller
• Pope John Paul II
• Jeff Foxworthy
• Wayne Newton
• Muhammad Ali*
• Betty White
• Elvis Presley
• Gen. Omar Bradley
• Barry Manilow
• Roy Rogers
• Tiger Woods
• Glenn Frey
• Fred Astaire
• Ronald Reagan
• Kate Middleton
• Bob Hope
• Hunter S. Thompson*
• Babe Ruth
• Bill Clinton

• Wayne Gretzky

*Kentucky native