Orville Redenbacher

1907 - Born in Brazil, Indiana on the 16th of July.

1924 - Graduated from Brazil High School and was in the top 5% of his class.

 
1928 - He graduated from Purdue University where he accepted his first job as a high school teacher in Fontanet, IN and operated a 12,000-acre farm owned by Tony   Hulman, Jr. 

1951 - He bought the George F. Chester and Son dent seed corn plant with partner Charlie Bowman, later named Chester Hybrids, near Valparaiso, Indiana, and tried tens of thousands of hybrid strands of popcorn before achieving success.

1965 - Charles Bowman, co-developed hybrid popcorn capable of expanding twice as much as best previous hybrid.

1970 - Marketed improved popcorn as Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn.

1976 - He sold the company to Hunt-Wesson Foods, which was a division of Norton Simon, Inc.

1983 - Esmark purchased Norton Simon; the following year Beatrice Foods acquired Esmark.

 
1990 - Beatrice Foods was taken over by agribusiness giant ConAgra. Redenbacher then moved to Coronado, California.

1995 - On the 19th of September, while in the whirlpool tub of his condominium in Coronado, Redenbacher suffered a heart attack and drowned. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. His brand of popcorn continues to be among the most popular in the United States.