---
title: "Which came first, the aeroplane or the hamburger?"
description: "the aeroplane vs the hamburger: the hamburger came first, by 3 years — 1900 against 1903. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/aeroplane-vs-hamburger/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the aeroplane or the hamburger?

**Which came first, the aeroplane or the hamburger?: the hamburger**

1900 — 3 years before the aeroplane

the hamburger came first, by 3 years. Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904.

## Side by side

|  | the aeroplane | the hamburger |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1903 | 1900 |
| Date | 1903-12-17 | — |
| Category | invention | food |
| What happened | The Wright Flyer made four powered flights at Kitty Hawk. | Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904. |

## the aeroplane

The first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 36 metres — less than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The Wrights' real contribution was not the engine but three-axis control, which they worked out with a wind tunnel of their own design after finding the published lift tables wrong. Sixty-six years separate that flight from the Moon landing, well within a single lifetime.

## the hamburger

At least four places claim it. Charlie Nagreen said he flattened a meatball between bread at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin in 1885; the Menches brothers claimed the same year at the Erie County Fair; Louis' Lunch in New Haven claims 1900; and Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas is credited with introducing it at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. No contemporary document settles it. What is documented is the Hamburg steak — chopped beef, no bun — on American menus from the 1870s.

## Common questions

### Which came first, the aeroplane or the hamburger?

the hamburger, by 3 years — 1900 against 1903.

### When did the aeroplane start?

1903. The Wright Flyer made four powered flights at Kitty Hawk.

### When did the hamburger start?

1900. Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904.

## Related pages

- [the Eiffel Tower or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/eiffel-tower-vs-hamburger/)
- [the hamburger or the Statue of Liberty?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-statue-of-liberty/)
- [the hamburger or pizza?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-pizza/)
- [the hamburger or the telephone?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-telephone/)
- [the hamburger or the lightbulb?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-lightbulb/)
- [the hamburger or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-television/)
- [the hamburger or Nintendo?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-nintendo/)
- [the hamburger or Monopoly?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-monopoly/)
- [Fanta or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-hamburger/)
- [the car or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-hamburger/)
- [the aeroplane or the Statue of Liberty?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/aeroplane-vs-statue-of-liberty/)
- [the aeroplane or the Eiffel Tower?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/aeroplane-vs-eiffel-tower/)

## Sources

- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/)
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)