Few people have heard of it, yet many consider John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 to be the first commercial personal computer.
Big Mac Celebrates 40 Years
By James Grahame
Two forty year-old all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. It doesn't have quite the same ring as the original tongue twister. Still, I suspect that McDonald's Big Mac is older than most Retro Thing readers, including both Bohus and I.
The fatty double-decker sandwich first appeared in 1967. It was the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchisee in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. It's distinctive center bun was added to hold the overly gooey concoction together. Over 500 million are sold each year in North America alone. In some ways, the supersized Big Mac is the ancestor of the modern fast food industry -- what originally started out as an occasional treat has become a regular part of the American diet.
Incidentally, 89 year-old Delligatti recently opened the McDonald's Big Mac Museum Restaurant, which features the world's largest Big Mac statue. I can feel my arteries constricting at the mere thought. Good thing I'm vegetarian!
By the way, here's a recipe so you can create your own at home. It's not nearly as much fun as ordering one from the drive-thru at 1am and then paying in pennies.
Big Mac Museum Restaurant opens in North Huntingdon [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
