R.I.P. Big Mac creator

The McDonald’s franchisee who created the Big Mac hamburger nearly 50 years ago died this week. Michael “Jim” Delligatti, who lived in Pittsburgh, was 98. Delligatti created the hamburger for one his Uniontown, Pa., franchise stores in the 1960s, with its iconic two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. While initially resisted by McDonald’s, which at the time relied on a simple menu of burgers, fries and shakes, the company took the Big Mac national in 1968.