A Brief History
On April 15, 1955, McDonald’s hamburger and fast-food chain claims their founding by Ray Kroc in Illinois when he opened a franchise restaurant of the hamburger stand brand founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in California. Since Kroc made McDonald’s the fast-food giant that it is, it is not surprising he would use the date of his involvement as the “founding” date.
Digging Deeper
Some interesting McDonald’s facts include:
Mickey D’s has over 40,000 locations in at least 119 countries.
The runners up in most fast-food locations is Subway, followed by Starbucks, KFC, and Burger King.
McDonald’s has sold an estimated 377 billion burgers!
1 of every 8 Americans has worked under the Golden Arches.
The most popular menu item of all time are the famous French Fries, with the Big Mac coming in at #2.
The original Ronald McDonald clown was played by Willard Scott in 1963, later famous as the weatherman on the Today show.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kroc, Ray. Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016.
Senker, Cath. McDonald’s: The Business behind the Golden Arches. Lerner Publications, 2016.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Carol M. Highsmith (1946–) of McDonald’s store #1 located west of Chicago, Illinois, is from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work. Carol M. Highsmith has stipulated that her photographs are in the public domain.
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