Portrait of Orville Redenbacher

Birthday profile

Orville Redenbacher

Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher's (died 1995)

Born
July 16, 1907
Died
September 19, 1995
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1907

About Orville Redenbacher

Orville Clarence Redenbacher (July 16, 1907 – September 19, 1995) was an American food scientist and businessman most often associated with the brand of popcorn that bears his name which is now owned by Conagra Brands. The New York Times described him as "the agricultural visionary who all but single-handedly revolutionized the American popcorn industry". == Early life == Orville Clarence Redenbacher was born in Brazil, Indiana, on July 16, 1907, the son of Julia Magdalena Dierdorff (1874–1944) and farmer William Joseph Redenbacher (1872–1939). He grew up on his family's farm, where he sometimes sold popcorn from the back of his car. He graduated from Brazil High School in 1924 in the top 5% of his class. He attended Purdue University, where he joined the agriculture-oriented Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, played the tuba in the Purdue All-American Marching Band, joined the Purdue University track team, and worked at the Purdue Exponent. He graduated in 1928 with a degree in agronomy. He spent most of his life in the agriculture industry, serving as a Vigo County Farm Bureau extension agent in Terre Haute, Indiana, and at Princeton Farms in Princeton, Indiana. == Business career == The New York Times described Redenbacher: "But for all his bumpkin appearance, the man with the signature white wavy hair and oversized bow tie was a shrewd agricultural scientist who experimented with hybrids." He began his career selling fertilizer, but spent his spare time working with popcorn. In 1951, Redenbacher and partner Charles F. Bowman bought the George F. Chester and Son seed corn plant in Boone Grove, Indiana.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Orville Redenbacher timeline

  1. He actually was a scientist who came up with a new strain of popcorn that really kept that whole industry alive that's a real contribution." In 1988, Purdue University awarded him an honorary doctorate.
  2. In 2025, Redenbacher's death was referenced by Roy Wood Jr. during the first episode of the second season of CNN's Have I Got News For You.

The world when Orville Redenbacher was born

Orville Redenbacher was born in 1907. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1907

  • Best-selling book"The Lady of the Decoration" – Frances Little

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentChicago Cubs win first of back-to-back World Series titles
  • Top headlinePanic of 1907 — financial crisis leads to Federal Reserve creation
  • Technology milestoneFirst commercial helicopter design
  • World population~1.67B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population86.0M

1907 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Orville Redenbacher's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19072026
Population86.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.