McDonald's was founded on April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois. McDonald's, the national corporation was founded by Ray Kroc. Before then Dick and Mac McDonald opened McDonald's Bar-B-Q in 1940 and then switched to burgers in 1948 in San Bernardino, California. Mickey D's founder started out as a milk shake mixer salesman when he first met the McDonald brothers and their small hamburger shop. Their large purchases of his mixers gained his interest, so he investigated their establishment further. Using his knowledge of what people enjoy when eating out, he offered to be their agent and to help them expand. By 1961, Kroc bought out the founding brothers. It only took McDonald's four years to have 100 operating stores.
Burger King was founded in 1954 in Miami, Florida. Burger King was founded by James McClamore and David Edgerton. BK's founders picked up an idea from some of their Cornell University classmates, Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns, for a stove called an "Insta-Broiler" and their restaurant called Insta-Burger King. After adjustments, they came up with a gas grill that they named a "flame broiler' to eliminate any problems. After visiting the McDonald brother hamburger stand in 1954, they bought the Insta-Burger King franchise. In 1957, Burger King introduced The Whopper their menu at the price of $0.37 to snag sales from McDonald's. In 1968, McDonald's introduced The Big Mac and apple pie to the menu. Both menu items were inspired and created by owner/ operators and franchisees. Three years after opening, BK decided