What event happened first?
What event happened last?
Tell the year and what happened.
Do You Want Fries With That?
News: Business
It's late afternoon, and your stomach is rumbling. Where can you get a quick snack? There are many fast-food places in America. It's likely there is a drive-through nearby where you might pick up any number of eats.
How did the country's food scene become full of quick-service spots? Let's drive through history to find out!
Can I Get That To Go?
Fast food has been around since ancient times. But it wasn't until the mid-1900s that it became a multibillion-dollar global enterprise. That's thanks in part to the rise of the automobile. The strong economy after World War II also helped. Many people were making more money. And they moved out of cities.
This was especially true in Southern California. There were lots of workers and young drivers who wanted inexpensive and filling fare to eat on the go. Brothers Richard and Maurice "Mac" McDonald were ready. They had a hamburger stand in San Bernardino called McDonald's.
In 1948, the brothers created a method for getting food out fast. This let them sell their burgers for 15 cents each. And people ate them up!
One McDonald's fan was Ray Kroc. He bought the brothers' burger business in 1961. Then he set up strict rules for the whole McDonald's chain. He wanted any customer at any McDonald's to get the same food. Customers liked the uniformity. By 2022, McDonald's had over 38,000 restaurants worldwide.
A Win for the Colonel
In the 1930s, Harland "Colonel" Sanders worked at a gas station in Kentucky. He also served motorists food, including fried chicken. People were pumped about his poultry. So, in 1952, the Colonel opened a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Utah. Soon, KFC went global.
The chicken chain has become particularly famous in Japan at Christmas. That's partly due to special advertising during the mid-1970s. Christmas was not widely celebrated in Japan, so there were few traditions around it. KFC created ads encouraging people to eat chicken for Christmas. Now the company earns buckets of bucks each December.
Fresh Eats
What do you get when a teen and a scientist team up? A sandwich empire! In 1965, Fred DeLuca was looking for a way to pay for college. He asked scientist and family friend Peter Buck for advice. Buck suggested DeLuca open a sandwich shop, and he chipped in $1,000 to help!
Pete's Super Submarines was a hit. The shop grew quickly. But some people mistook the name "Pete's" for "pizza" on radio ads. To lessen the confusion, DeLuca and Buck shortened the name to Subway. DeLuca managed to pay for school. But his sandwich shop success didn't end there. Today, Subway has nearly 37,000 restaurants around the world.
Now that you know some fast food history, it's time to ask yourself: Do you want fries with that?
1 answer
The event that happened first in fast-food history was:
1948: Richard and Maurice McDonald created a method for getting food out fast at their hamburger stand in San Bernardino, allowing them to sell burgers for 15 cents each.
The event that happened last was:
2022: McDonald's had over 38,000 restaurants worldwide.
