Big Mac
Michael Delligatti invented the iconic burger in 1967. 
 

PITTSBURGH – The creator of the world-famous McDonald’s Big Mac, Michael “Jim” Delligatti, died at the age of 98. Delligatti created the Big Mac burger nearly 50 years ago. He died at home surrounded by his family Nov. 28, according to a McDonald’s representative.

Delligatti, a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s franchisee invented the Big Mac in 1967. He created the burger, known for its advertising jingle, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun,” for his own franchise stores because he wanted to offer customers a “bigger burger.” Delligatti told Associated Press in 2006 that McDonald’s corporate, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, had resisted the idea of offering the Big Mac at first, but started offering it nationally in 1968 after it was a success at Delligatti’s stores.

In 1992, Pittsburgh was temporarily renamed Big Mac, USA, in honor of the burger’s 25th anniversary. In 2007, the Big Mac Museum restaurant opened in North Huntington, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the iconic burger’s 40th anniversary.