American entrepreneur and restaurateur Maurice McDonald teamed up with his brother, Richard McDonald, to launch the ground-breaking fast food company McDonald's. After launching the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940, the brothers introduced the assembly-line production of fast food in their restaurant and removed waiters and waitresses, creating the Speedee Service System and reducing wait time significantly. The concept was well-liked by customers. They were thus the forefathers of the modern “fast food” system. In-spite of facing major legal challenges for promoting fat-inducing food, Maurice and Richard continued to make profits from their food business. They made their business associate Ray Kroc their sole franchise agent in 1954 and sold off their company name and rights to Kroc in 1961. However, prior to that, the brothers had contributed immensely to the economy of the US, building a food empire that also employed scores of Americans.
