Jim Delligatti introduced the Big Mac at a McDonald's restaurant in 1967.
Delligatti was a McDonald's franchisee in the Pittsburgh area. He created a larger hamburger with two beef patties, a middle bun section, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and sauce. The sandwich was designed to compete with larger burgers offered by rival restaurants and to give customers a more substantial menu choice.
The Big Mac first appeared at selected McDonald's restaurants in 1967 and was introduced nationally in the United States the following year. Its three-part bun and distinctive sauce made it visually different from the chain's standard hamburger and cheeseburger. The sandwich soon became one of McDonald's most recognizable branded products.
The Big Mac is sometimes credited directly to McDonald's corporate headquarters, but Delligatti's franchisee experimentation was central to its origin. The sandwich's later cultural importance also produced the Big Mac Index, an informal economic comparison based on prices in different countries.