{"id":4841,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1955ce-apr-15--4841","name":"1955 CE, April 15","year":1955,"era":"CE","month":4,"day":15,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1955ce-apr-15--4841","iso-date":"1955-04-15","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eRay Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise on April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois, launching the corporation that became the world's largest fast-food chain. It was the first franchise for Kroc's company, McDonald's Systems, Inc and it featured a red and white tiled building with the Golden Arches. The first day sales were $366.12.\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eMcDonald’s System, Inc. was the predecessor of McDonald’s Corp. Kroc initially acquired the exclusive franchise rights from the McDonalds brothers in 1954 and went on to buy the complete company in 1961 for $2.7 million.\u003ca href=\"https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-company/who-we-are/our-history.html\"\u003e \u003c/a\u003e gaining full control of the name, trademarks, and operations, allowing him to expand without restrictions. \u003ca href=\"https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-company/who-we-are/our-history.html\"\u003eMore\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/c4phJfUpT3aIxlCqsuB0_Ray_Kroc_1978%20R1.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","photo_width":212,"photo_height":152,"created_at":"2026-04-15T17:40:33-07:00","updated_at":"2026-04-15T18:01:34-07:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"April History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/april"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"April 15","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/april-15"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1955ce-apr-15--4841#eventK365","name":"1955 CE, April 15","headline":"Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald\u0026#39;s franchise on April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois, launching the... - 1955 CE","description":"Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise on April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois, launching the corporation that became the world's largest...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1955ce-apr-15--4841","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-04-15T17:40:33-07:00","dateModified":"2026-04-15T18:01:34-07:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/c4phJfUpT3aIxlCqsuB0_Ray_Kroc_1978%20R1.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","width":212,"height":152},"temporalCoverage":"1955-04-15","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/april","name":"What Happened in April History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/april-15#pageK365","name":"What Happened on April 15"}]}}