On this day back in 1940, Richard and Maurice McDonald started a Californian BBQ business. Seventy-five years down the line, their efforts have touched the world over; the famous Golden Arches are thought to be the most recognised symbol globally, and on average they serve 25 million customers every day – and who doesn’t have a pal who worked in Maccy D’s as a study?
Love them or hate them, here are 10 things you didn’t know about the Big Mac makers.
- You’ll struggle to find a country that DOESN’T have a McDonald’s. They have more than 36,000 restaurants in over 100 countries.
- However, if you ever find yourself in Bermuda, Montenegro, Kazakhstan or Macedonia, you’ll have to go without. These countries have banned the Golden Arches.
- The UK’s first McDonald’s opened 41 years ago, in 1974.
- McDonald’s sells more than 75 burgers ever second. That’s 4,500 every minute, or 270,000 every hour.
- Their first drive-thru opened in 1975 in Arizona. The idea came after one restaurant, located near a military base, realised that soldiers were not allowed to leave their cars while wearing uniform.
- There are more McDonald’s restaurants in the United States (14,350) than hospitals (10,660).
- The McDonald’s jingle, known as “I’m Lovin’ It”, was originally a song written by Happy singer Pharrell Williams and sung by Justin Timberlake.
- Her Majesty the Queen owns a McDonald’s as part of her vast £11 billion Crown Estate. The restaurant is a drive-through in Slough, Berkshire. Sadly, she’s not been spotted in it, which would make for an amazing story.
- McDonald’s is more environmentally-friendly than you think. In the UK, they run a programme that recycles its employees’ uniform. Some of the material is re-spun into fibre to make new uniforms, and the rest is shredded and used to stuff mattresses.
- The only item on the UK version of the McDonald’s version that is unique to these shores is the much loved bacon roll.
