Origins and History
- Founded in 1940: Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first barbecue drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. [1, 2]
- The 1948 Relaunch: The brothers shut down the restaurant and reopened it as a self-service drive-in featuring a slimmed-down, 9-item menu centered on a 15-cent hamburger. [1]
- Ray Kroc's Arrival: American businessman Ray Kroc joined the company in 1955 and opened the first franchised location in Des Plaines, Illinois, eventually buying out the brothers. [1]
- Hamburger University: Opened in 1961 in Illinois to train franchisees and corporate staff on strict operational consistency.
Menu and Fun Facts
- The Filet-O-Fish Origin: Created in 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to boost sales during Lent among Roman Catholic customers who abstained from meat on Fridays.
- The Big Mac Index: The iconic burger is used by economists worldwide as an informal gauge of purchasing power parity between different global currencies.
- Toy Distributor: Through its popular Happy Meals (introduced in 1979), McDonald's distributes over 1 billion toys every year.
- Logo Recognition: Market studies have historically shown that the Golden Arches logo is recognized by more people globally than the Christian cross
