Richard and Maurice McDonald

Richard (Dick) McDonald (1909-1998) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald (1902-1971) are early leaders in fast-food servicing and production. They create McDonald's and give it its name. The men come from New Hampshire but leave their home during the Great Depression to make it big with their own business. After some experimentation, they open the first McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Over the next few years, the men experiment with fast-food production, eventually producing the assembly-line style of fast-food creation that is nearly ubiquitous today; they called it the "Speedy Service System" and introduce it in 1948.

The brothers realize the potential for McDonald's early and begin franchising it in 1953, beginning with Neil Fox in Phoenix, Arizona. However, only the system is franchised, not the entire design. This eventually produces a variety of knock-offs, but Fox keeps the name. They begin to produce McDonald's according to a...