The first restaurant was located in the town of San Bernardino in California.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in history was opened on this day in 1940. It was started by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald (also known as Dick and Mac). It is interesting that they were of Irish descent. Their father, Patrick J. McDonald, moved from Ireland to the United States in 1877. Their mother was also born in Ireland and immigrated to America as a child. Their father Patrick opened a restaurant, called The Airdrome, which was located along the famous Route 66 in California (the most famous road in American history).
The McDonald brothers opened their own restaurant on this day. It was known as McDonald’s Bar-B-Q, also in California, but about 64 kilometers from their father’s restaurant – in the town of San Bernardino. It seems that the first man who cooked the meat was Richard Dick McDonald (the younger of the two brothers). The business started well, so the brothers began to sell franchises for restaurants during the early 1950s. The goal of the McDonald brothers was supposedly to make a million dollars before they turn 50. In the early 1960s, they sold their share to Ray Kroc. They really did earn some money, but McDonald’s only later became a worldwide phenomenon of gigantic scope. It turned out they probably withdrew from the business too prematurely.
