Timeline of the Hamburger

A brief chronology marking major milestones in the evolution of the iconic sandwich.

808 AD - The city of Hamburg, Germany is founded. The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a castle called Hammaburg

1800’s - Immigrants introduce the ‘Hamburg Steak” to America. The dish is comprised of a hard slab of slightly smoked and salted minced beef, mixed with onions and soaked breadcrumbs. It was a common meal amongst poorer classes and kept well on long sea voyages.

1889 – The first recorded use of the word ‘hamburger’ appears in a Walla Walla, Washington newspaper.

Late 19th Century - Many claim credit for inventing the sandwich that came to be known as ‘the hamburger’. The birthplace of the hamburger is widely disputed as well. Purported origins include claims in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, Connecticut and New York.

1904 - The hamburger creates a sensation at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and receives widespread attention.

1916 - Walter Anderson Wichita, Kansas invents the hamburger bun. Until that time hamburger patties were placed between two slices of bread.

1931 - J Wellington ‘Wimpy’ appears in Popeye comic strips. His signature line: “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today’ debuts one year later.

1941 – A California Supreme Court decides that a ‘hamburger’ does not constitute a meal and ‘is the type of food frequently offered for sale to and desired by persons who wish to eat something while walking about’.1

1950 – The hamburger enjoys a status as symbolically American.

1986 - The world’s largest hamburger is prepared in Seymour, Wisconsin. It weighs over 5,520 lbs.

2006 - Fleur de Lys in the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas created the most expensive burger in the world. It is a Kobe beef burger topped with a slab of foie gras and black truffles and served on a truffled brioche bun. It costs $5000.

2009 - Bareburger™ is founded in Astoria, New York.