---
title: "Which came first, India or McDonald's?"
description: "India vs McDonald's: McDonald's came first, by 7 years — 1940 against 1947. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-mcdonalds/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, India or McDonald's?

**Which came first, India or McDonald's?: McDonald's**

1940 — 7 years before India

McDonald's came first, by 7 years. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino.

## Side by side

|  | India | McDonald's |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1947 | 1940 |
| Date | 1947-08-15 | — |
| Category | country | company |
| What happened | India became independent from British rule. | Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino. |

## India

India became independent on 15 August 1947 and a republic on 26 January 1950, when the constitution took effect — which is why the country has two national days. It remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state for those two and a half years. India as a civilisation is thousands of years older; India as a state with its present borders is younger than the ballpoint pen.

## McDonald's

The brothers opened in 1940 as a barbecue drive-in and reinvented it in 1948 with the Speedee Service System — a tiny menu, no waiters, food assembled on a production line. The company itself dates its founding to 15 April 1955, when Ray Kroc opened his franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois. Both dates are defensible and the corporate one is not the restaurant one.

## Common questions

### Which came first, India or McDonald's?

McDonald's, by 7 years — 1940 against 1947.

### When did India start?

1947. India became independent from British rule.

### When did McDonald's start?

1940. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)