Creator of the Big Mac dies at age 98
The creator of the Big Mac, one of the signature hamburgers of the US-based McDonald's fast-food chain, has died at age 98, the company announced on Twitter Wednesday.
"Today, we celebrate the 98 inspirational years of Big Mac inventor, Michael 'Jim' Delligatti. Jim, we thank and will forever remember you," McDonald's tweeted.
Delligatti, who died Monday night at his home outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cooked up the idea of the Big Mac while operating his own McDonald's franchise in the Pittsburgh area in 1965, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The concoction, whose ingredients became part of a advertising jingle - two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun - was adopted by McDonald's nationwide in 1968, after initial resistance.
"I never would have dreamed that my creation would turn into a piece of Americana," Delligatti once said. (dpa)
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