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1. It was originally called McDonald's Bar-B-Q.
Back in 1940 Dick and Mac McDonald opened a standard drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, CA—complete with car hop service.
2. Burgers used to cost 15 cents.
In 1948, the menu was cut down to just eight items (hamburger, cheeseburger, soft drinks, milk, coffee, potato chips, pie slices) and the restaurant switched to self-service. The super-cheap burger was the shining star.
3. McDonald's famous fries debuted in 1949.
Up until then, there were only potato chips on the menu. Along with the fried shoestrings, there were new triple-thick milkshakes. The recipe contains 17 ingredients.
4. There's a movie coming out about its scandalous past.
Founder Ray Kroc poached the fast-food company from its original brother-owners. In the trailer, Michael Keaton takes on Nick Offerman and lots of greasy drama unfolds.
5. It was an instant hit and grew exponentially.
In less than 10 years, McDonald's sold 100 million hamburgers (by 1958). A year later, it hit another benchmark by opening its 100th restaurant.
6. The Big Mac wasn't created until the late '60s.
Developed by owner-operator Jim Deligatti of Pittsburgh, the Big Mac was added to the national menu in 1968. And the Quarter Pounder was introduced in 1973.
7. Ronald McDonald is 50 years old.
The red head made his debut in 1966, when McD's first TV commercial debuted. In another set of commercials he arrived in a flying hamburger. His friends—Hamburglar, Grimace, Mayor McCheese—came along three years later.
8. There was another mascot before the clown.
His name was Speedee, a winking waiter with a hamburger-shaped head.
9. The Egg McMuffin was modeled after Eggs Benedict.
It was originally served with prepackaged hollandaise. Another fun fact: Breakfast wasn't even a thing at McD's until 1975, when owner-operator Herb Peterson of Santa Barbara created the Egg McMuffin and it was added to menus everywhere.
10. Happy Meals have been around since 1979.
The original boxes looked like animal crackers with their circus wagon-themed design.
11. It inspired one of the most popular documentaries of all time.
In Super Size Me, director Morgan Spurlock embarks on a self-tasked social experiment with fast food, eating from only the McDonald's menu for an entire month.
12. You can get a degree in Hamburgerology at Hamburger University.
McDonald's opened the school in 1961 in Elk Grove, IL and it issues Bachelor-level degrees.
13. McDonald's fearlessly dove into the coffee game.
Back in 2009, McDonald's launched its McCafé coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, and fruit smoothies—no doubt to compete with quick-serve chains like Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks.
14. McDonald's feeds 68 million people every day.
With restaurants in 119 countries around the world, it sells 75 burgers per second.
15. McD's has employed a bunch of celebs
With 1 in 8 American's having been employed by McDonald's we guess it shouldn't be a huge surprise that stars like Rachel McAdams, Jay Leno, Seal, Shania Twain, and Jeff Bezos have all put in time there.
16. You can build your own burger.
After introducing a series of self-serve kiosks, McDonald's basically gave customers almighty power over their burgers. You can add whatever toppings you like and even build an insane, giant $50 burger if you so choose.
17. The menu keeps getting more creative.
We're almost getting lost while trying to keep track of all the new items McD's is adding to its lineup—from truffle fries to mozzarella sticks. But hey, we're not complaining; we love having lots of options.
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