McDonald’s

While McDonald's official position is that Ray Kroc invented the company on his own in 1955, this couldn't be further from the truth and ignores the real founders and namesakes of the chain, Richard and Maurice McDonald. In San Bernadino, California, the McDonald brothers opened their first drive-in restaurant in 1940.

Although McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, the brothers originally sold slow-cooked barbecue sandwiches. They eventually began selling hamburgers, and in 1947 they realized that the majority of their profits came from their hamburgers.

McDonald's ultimately decided to close their drive-in restaurant in order to open a new location with a simplified menu consisting only of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks, and apple pie. The following year, milkshakes and french fries replaced chips and pies. Their idea was a hit, and by the start of the 1950s, southern California was home to a number of McDonald's eateries.

Ray Kroc became a McDonald's franchisee in 1955 and eventually drove the McDonald brothers out of the company and out of the restaurant business entirely. So, while Kroc was not the original founder of McDonald's, he was instrumental in transforming it into the global powerhouse that it is today.

The iconic Golden Arches of McDonald's were created by the architects Stanley Clark Meston and Charles Fish, and the first McDonald's with the new logo opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.

Year Founded: May 15, 1940

Founder(s): Richard and Maurice McDonald

Year Franchising Started: 1955

Current No. of Locations: over 37,241

Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Website: www.mcdonalds.com