His family name is on more than 40,000 restaurants. As a kid, he was not allowed to tell anyone. In 1948 two brothers closed their drive-in in San Bernardino for three months. When Dick and Mac McDonald reopened, there were no carhops and no plates. The menu went from 25 items to nine. The kitchen worked like an assembly line, and a hamburger cost 15 cents. They called it the Speedee Service System. It was fast food as we know it. Six years later a milkshake mixer salesman named Ray Kroc walked in and could not believe what he saw. He took the idea national. In 1961 he bought the brothers out for $2.7 million, enough for each to keep a million after taxes. The deal included the right to their own name. Kroc became known as the founder. Mac died in 1971. Dick died in 1998. Their family kept quiet. Dick’s grandson, Jason McDonald French, says that as a kid he was not allowed to tell people he was Richard McDonald’s grandson. It was the family secret nobody talked about. Ray Kroc was a touchy subject. Today McDonald’s has tens of thousands of restaurants worldwide. Most people who eat there have never heard of Dick and Mac. The grandson says he does not think they get enough credit for what they actually created. Be honest. Did you know McDonald’s was invented by two brothers, not Ray Kroc? Yes or no.