Drive Through the History of Fast Food With This Quiz

Willard Scott was not only the original Ronald McDonald, but also played Bozo the Clown on-air for WRC in Washington, D.C., at a time when TV weather reports were much more gimmicky. He created the character of Ronald McDonald at the request of the local McDonald's franchise in 1963, and he played the red-haired clown up until 1971. He later went on to report the weather on the "Today" show.

The Texas-based Whataburger has featured orange and white stripes on the roofs of its restaurants since the 1950s, and until the ‘80s, almost exclusively ran out of A-frame buildings. Founder Harmon Dobson was an aviator and wanted to be able to easily spot his restaurants from the sky, hence the orange and white stripes.

CKE Restaurant Holdings is the owner of both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurants. Carl’s Jr. came first, starting as a Los Angeles hot dog stand in 1941. In 1997, the company acquired Hardee’s, which soon began duplicating the Carl’s Jr. menu. A few states, including Wyoming and Oklahoma, have both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurants, but for the most part, it’s Carl’s Jr. in the western U.S. and Hardee’s in the eastern states.

When Burger King expanded to Australia in the 1970s, the American company quickly discovered there was already a burger chain there with the same name. So the first local franchisee, Jack Cowin, coined the name “Hungry Jack's” after himself.

The sandwich joint that called itself "Pete's Super Submarines" when it opened in 1965 is none other than Subway, one of the largest fast-food chains in the world. The original name was in honor of co-founder Dr. Peter Buck, and the company also tried the name “Doctor’s Associates Inc.” before settling on Subway.

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas had five children when the restaurant opened in 1969, and he tried all five of the names on for size, eventually settling on his daughter Melinda’s nickname, Wendy. It may seem an odd nickname for the name Melinda, but there’s a reason for it: Her siblings couldn’t pronounce Melinda and called her Wenda, which evolved into Wendy.

In 1962, Pittsburgh-based McDonald's franchise owner Jim Delligatti invented the iconic Big Mac when he combined two all-beef patties and toppings on a sesame seed bun. He originally deemed his creation the "Aristocrat," but when the item was adopted across the entire company, the chain opted for a more American-sounding name, eventually landing on "Big Mac."

The very first Wendy’s opened in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, and its small menu featured almost every signature item that you can find at Wendy’s today. There was the iconic square burger, chili, french fries, soft drinks, and the now-trademarked Frosty. Chicken nuggets were eventually added to the menu, and today a spicy variety is also featured.

What’s in a name? In the case of Taco Bell, it’s the surname of the founder, Glen Bell. A serial entrepreneur, Bell opened multiple eateries in California throughout the 1950s. In order to differentiate his restaurants, he started selling hard-shell tacos. After various Mexican food-related enterprises, he opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 in Downey, California. Success was swift: By 1967, there were a hundred Taco Bell restaurants nationwide.

The modern drive-through was born in California, at In-N-Out Burger. Harry Snyder, who started the chain, had a longstanding dream of serving customers food without them ever having to leave their cars. He tinkered in his garage at nights after making burgers all day and ended up developing the two-way speaker box. Once installed at the restaurant, his food drive-through dreams were realized.

Although McDonald's helped popularize them on a national scale, Buffalo wings were born at the Anchor Bar in (you guessed it) Buffalo, New York. In 1964, the bar’s co-owner fried up some leftover wings in hot sauce as a snack for her son. They were an instant hit with customers, but didn’t become a true nationwide craze until 1990, when McDonald’s launched its own take on the snack: “Mighty Wings.”

When Popeye’s first opened outside New Orleans in 1972, founder Alvin C. Copeland Sr. named it Chicken on the Run. He first sold Southern-style fried chicken but quickly realized it wasn’t working — so he rebranded as Popeye’s and switched to New Orleans-style chicken. Contrary to popular belief, Popeye’s wasn’t named after the spinach-eating sailorman; it was named after actor Gene Hackman who played Popeye Doyle in “The French Connection.”

It’s widely believed that the “R B” initials that give Arby’s its name stand for “roast beef,” the sandwiches the chain is best known for. But that is actually a myth. Brothers Leroy and Forrest Raffel started the chain in Ohio in 1971, and the “R B” initials comes from them; it stands for “Raffel Brothers.”

The whole country may now run on Dunkin’, but the beloved coffee and doughnut chain had humble beginnings in the Boston suburb of Quincy, Massachusetts. Entrepreneur William Rosenberg opened the first Dunkin’ Donuts in 1950, and five years later, the first franchise opened. Since then, the brand has grown to more than 12,400 restaurants in 46 countries.

You might be thinking that “Small Soldiers” wasn't exactly a kids movie, and you are right. Burger King agreed to hand out the toys with their kids’ meals before the movie was stuck with a PG-13 rating. Afterward, it decided to allow parents to trade out the action figures for Mr. Potato Head toys.

In 1964, NHL legend Tim Horton opened his first Tim Hortons location in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The coffee shop was a quick success, and Horton went on to franchise the restaurant, eventually growing it to more than 4,000 locations, including some in Kuwait, Thailand, and Mexico. In 2014, the global chain was bought by Burger King for over $11 billion.

Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns, two men from Jacksonville, Florida, were so inspired by McDonald’s that in 1953, they opened their own burger restaurant. It was called Insta-Burger King, named after a grill they bought exclusive rights to, called the Insta-Broiler. The fast-food chain was eventually was renamed Burger King in 1961.

When McDonald’s first opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1940, it originally served pit barbecue. The brothers who ran the restaurant, Dick and Mac McDonald, pivoted to selling burgers after World War II. They realized that burgers were making up about 80 percent of the restaurant’s income, and rearranged the shop completely to accommodate a new menu.

In the 1960s, entrepreneur Gordon Bowker had a great idea for a coffee shop he planned to open in Seattle, but he couldn’t come up with a good name for the business. His friend Terry Heckler, who owned an ad agency, mentioned that words beginning with “St” made a stronger impact on consumers. After a brainstorming session, Bowker settled on “Starbucks,” the name of the first mate in “Moby Dick,” the classic novel by Herman Melville.

In 1921, Bill Ingram opened an unassuming Wichita hamburger shop in a castle-like building inspired by Chicago’s Water Tower structure. The establishment, White Castle, went on to become America’s first major fast-food chain. The restaurant made a killing with its delicious and speedy five-cent hamburgers — a success that birthed the world of fast food.