April 15 is celebrated as McDonald’s Day. Today celebrates the day in 1955 when Ray Kroc started his fast-food chain, making it eventually become one of the most successful franchises in the food industry.
April is a month full of national days devoted to all sorts of food. Check out the full list of April national food days here.
National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate odd and unusual foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out my national day’s guide for more fun days to celebrate.
History of McDonald’s
Dick and Mac McDonald moved to California in the 1940’s and started up some drive in restaurants that offered 15 cent hamburgers. When these succeeded, they started offering their concept as a franchise.
Ray Croc, a native of Chicago, visited the McDonald’s brothers operation in the 1950’s and became their franchise agent.
Croc opened up the first restaurant for McDonald’s System, Inc., a predecessor of the McDonald’s Corp. in April, 1955. The company then acquired the rights to the McDonald’s brother’s company in 1961 for $2.7 million and fast-food chain was born.
Today, McDonald’s has over 36,000 restaurants in over 100 nations around the world.
Fun facts about McDonald’s
Brush up on your knowledge of McDonald’s with these fun facts. Some may surprise you!
- McDonald’s originally sold hot dogs, not hamburgers!
- A new McDonald’s restaurant opens every 14.5 hours.
- McDonald’s sells more than 75 hamburgers every second.
- A Caesar salad at McDonald’s has more calories than their hamburger.
- The Queen of England owns a McDonald’s near Buckingham Palace.
- Even though McDonald’s is a huge chain, it is not the largest. This honor goes to Subway.
- In the 1970’s McDonald’s sold pizzas.
- Not all McDonald’s arches are yellow. There are some turquoise arches in Sedona, Arizona.
- If you live in the USA, there is a McDonald’s within 115 miles of you.
- 75% of the sesame seeds that are grown in Mexico will end up on a McDonald’s bun.
- and 7% of the potatoes grown in the USA get turned into McDonald’s french fries.
- In some European countries, beer is served.
- Supersizing started at MdDonald’s about the time of the Jurassic Park movie as a merchandising tie-in. The concept has been discontinued because of the epidemic of obesity.
- Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the mascot of the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain.
- Ronald McDonald house offers a comforting home away from home and a community of support for seriously ill children and their parents.
- McCafé is a more upmarket coffee-house-style food and beverage chain, which is owned by McDonald’s.
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How to celebrate McDonald’s Day
Would you like to celebrate McDonald’s Day in a special way? Try one of these ideas.
- Spread the word on social media using the hashtag #mcdonaldsday
- Visit your local McDonald’s to see if they are offering specials.
- Treat your kids to a fun McDonald’s play set.
- Brew up your favorite McCafe premium roast coffee McCafe premium roast coffee.
- Watch the Movie Supersize Me.
- Go all out with a McDonald’s arches belt buckle.
- Check out the complete run of Ronald McDonald Sunday Comic Strips.
- Visit the location where Ray Croc opened the first McDonald’s restaurant.
More national days in April
There are close to 2000 national days in the year and over 150 of them are celebrated in April. Be sure to check out this post to discover more about the national days in April.
Be sure to also check out these national days this month:
Pin this post for McDonald’s Day for later
Would you like a reminder of this post for McDonald’s Day? Just pin this image to one of your boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Make sure to check out our YouTube video to learn about more April food days.
