When McDonald's was just a

tiny BBQ joint: Black and white

pictures of the first burger
restaurant before it went on to
take over the world (and a
hamburger was just 15 cents)

Before the Golden Arches set up

shop in Anytown, U.S.A. and
invaded lands afar, McDonald's
was just a corner BBQ joint serving
up burgers for 15 cents.
Retro photos of the first
McDonald's in San Bernardino,
California from 1940 show the
early days of the fast food joint that was a gathering place for Southern Californians
looking for some simple All-American fare.
The restaurant would go on to become the largest chain of hamburger fast food
restaurants in the world - serving an estimated 68 million hungry people in 119 countries
everyday.

Quaint: Before the Golden Arches set up shop in Anytown, U.S.A. and invaded lands
afar, McDonald's was just a corner BBQ joint serving up burgers for 15 cents

Where it all began: Retro photos of the first

McDonald's in San Bernardino, California from
1940 shows the early days of the fast food joint
that was a gathering place for Southern
Californians looking for the simple All-American
fare
Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald came
up with the idea for a barbecue spot, they named
'The
Airdrome,' and originally set up shop near the
airport in Monrovia, California in 1937.
But in 1940, the brothers moved the joint to
San Bernardino, located 40 miles to the east,
and eventually gave it the name 'McDonalds.'
As astute businessmen, the McDonalds
realized that of all their menu offerings, the
most popular choices with customers was
burgers, french fries, milkshakes and apple
pie.

If you feed them, they will come: As astute

businessmen, the McDonald brothers
 realized that of all their menu offerings,
the most popular choices with customers
was their burgers, french fries, milkshakes
and apple pie

Popular: Southern Californians flocked to

the burger joint to get a fast-food fix
So, the men decided to pare down their
offerings and their menu was slimmed
down to only include those staples.
The McDonalds also devised a more
efficient modus operandi for their kitchen,
setting up an assembly line to turn out burgers more quickly - dubbed the 'Speedee
Service System.'
The success of the California restaurant
caught the attention of businessman Ray
Kroc, who in the 1950s joined the
brothers to develop the franchise arm of
the business.
Eventually Mr Kroc purchased the
company from the McDonalds and took
the helm at the fast food chain to turn it
into the multibillion dollar empire that it is
today.

Where it all began: The McDonalds

devised a more efficient modus operandi for their kitchen, setting up an assembly line to
turn out their burgers more quickly - dubbed the
'Speedee Service System'

The price is right: The success of the California

restaurant caught the attention of businessman
Ray Kroc, who in the 1950s joined the brothers to
develop the franchise arm of the business
The mastermind: Ray Kroc (pictured in May 1977) eventually purchased the company
from the McDonalds and took the helm at the fast food chain to turn it into the
multibillion dollar empire that it is today

The oldest operating McDonald's

restaurant is a drive-up hamburger
stand at 10207 Lakewood
Boulevard at Florence
Avenue in Downey, California. It was the
second McDonald's restaurant and
opened on August 18, 1953. It was also
the second restaurant franchised
by Richard and Maurice McDonald, prior
to the involvement of Ray Kroc in the
company. The restaurant is now the
oldest in the chain still in existence and
is one of Downey's main tourist
attractions. Along with its sign, it was
deemed eligible for addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, although it was not
added because the owner objected.
Global operations

Countries with McDonald's restaurants, showing their first year with its first restaurant

McDonald's on Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the

"McDonaldization" of society. The Economist newspaper uses the "Big Mac Index": the comparison
of a Big Mac's cost in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these
currencies' purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of
July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India[34][35](albeit for a Maharaja
Macthe next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).[36]

McDonald's, Paulista Avenue, So Paulo, Brazil

Thomas Friedman once said that no country with a McDonald's had gone to war with
another.[37][38] However, the "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention" is not strictly true.
Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999,
the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald's suspended operations in its
corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014.[39] On August 20, 2014,
as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over events in Ukraine, and the resultant
U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald's outlets in Moscow,
citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and at August 2014 had
438 stores across the country.[40]On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady
Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald's and dismissed the notion that the
temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.[41]
McDonald's, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai, India

Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the
standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden
Arches East[42] looked at the impact McDonald's had on East Asia and Hong Kong, in particular.
When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer
clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions.
McDonald's has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People's
Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country's growing use of personal vehicles by
opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.[43] McDonald's has opened a McDonald's restaurant and
McCaf on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.[44]
The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid-2013.[45] Foreign
restaurants are banned in Bermuda, with the exception of KFC, which was present before the
current law was passed. Therefore, there are no McDonald's in Bermuda.[46][unreliable source?]
On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in the mainland China and in Hong Kong were sold
for US$2.080 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%) and private equity funds managed by
CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would also
formed a joint venture to own the stake.[47]