'The Whopper pre-dates the Big Mac by a decade. '
The first McDonald's opened in 1940, although the company dates its origins to 1955 and the singular brilliance of Ray Kroc. It would be another 12 years before Pennsylvania-based owner/operator Jim Delligatti invented the Big Mac. Meanwhile, Burger King, which was founded in 1954, introduced the Whopper in 1957, an invention by James McLamore, one of two co-founders of the fast food giant