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James McLamore Bio, Founder of Burger King

The co-founder of Burger King, with David Edgerton, James McLamore was born on May 30, 1926, and opened the Insta Burger King fast food restaurant in Miami, Florida, at the age of 28. McLamore had visited the original McDonald's, and saw potential in its assembly-line style kitchen. When he met fellow Cornell alumnus Edgerton a few months after opening the restaurant, the two talked business and soon formed the Burger King Corporation. The "Insta" was dropped from the name, and the flagship sandwich the Whopper was introduced in 1957.

Like McDonald's Big Mac, the Whopper was sold in styrofoam clamshells for a mark-up over the cost of a normal hamburger. Unlike the Big Mac, though, the Whopper's "gimmick" was that it could be ordered with whatever combination of ingredients the customer desired -- according to an early slogan, "There are 1024 ways to have a Whopper," thanks to the ten possible ingredients.

After expanding throughout the Miami area, McLamore and Edgerton sold franchise licenses across the United States, just as McDonald's was doing. By 1967, there were 274 Burger Kings throughout the country, including one in Puerto Rico; McLamore and Edgerton sold the corporation to Pillsbury, which kept McLamore as president and began expanding internationally. From 1970 to 1976, McLamore served as chairman of the corporation's board, as the restaurant expanded throughout Europe and Australia.

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