Transcript

Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?

From Today I Found Out · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 24 min · 4,673 words · 34 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?", an episode of Today I Found Out published January 19, 2026 (24 min, about 4,673 words). It mentions 8 people, works and ideas, including Herb Peterson, Ray Croc, Jim Deagati, David Peterson, Kevin Ozan.

What this episode is about

The Egg McMuffin's creation is linked to the broader significance of breakfast in both historical and contemporary contexts, illustrating how essential morning meals are for energy and productivity. The discussion also draws a fascinating parallel to an ancient military defeat attributed to the absence of breakfast, highlighting the meal's importance throughout history.

Key takeaways

  • Skipping breakfast? Just ask the Romans: a fatal error cost them a battle!
  • McDonald's breakfast profits soar higher than lunch—habitual morning munchers are their golden ticket.
  • The Egg McMuffin: a game-changer born from sneaky persuasion, not corporate foresight.
  • Caffeine and calories unite at breakfast, fueling both office warriors and ancient soldiers alike.
  • Huel: the no-fuss meal revolution, for those too dizzy to cook or eat!

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Ray Croc, Jim Deagati, Kevin Ozan, Hannibal Barker
  2. – 10:00: Ray Croc, Jim Deagati, Barbara Elizabeth Burke
  3. – 15:00: Herb Peterson, David Peterson
  4. – 20:00: Ray Croc, Herb Peterson, David Peterson, Jim Deagati
  5. – 24:00: David Peterson, Karen Easterbrook

Notable quotes from "Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?"

  • A massive defeat at the battle of Tribia River in December of 218 BC. On that occasion, brilliant Carthaginian general Hannibal Barker unleashed his elite Namidian cavalry…
    about Hannibal Barker · at
  • Even considered serving breakfast as a standard offer. As we'll find out later, the company's chairman of the board, Ray Croc, had to be tricked by one of his franchises into…
    about Ray Croc · at
  • McDonald's first tentative steps into Breakfast Land came courtesy of entrepreneur and franchisee Jim Deagati, owner of several restaurants across Pennsylvania. Deagati was…
    about Jim Deagati · at
  • Opportunity to thank you for your loyal and valuable service. After the end of the war, Herbert returned to Chicago where in 1946 had married Barbara Elizabeth Burke. The two…
    about Barbara Elizabeth Burke · at
  • They could easily hold in their hands and consume on the go as they headed to work. Herb and his son David then set about experimenting with what could possibly be the…
    about David Peterson · at
  • Don't exist and which surely don't translate easily into a handheld breakfast. Herb's first order of business was to tackle the question of the poached egg. Its shape and size…
    about Herb Peterson · at
  • Success. In his first quarterly statement for 2016, the then CEO Steve Easterbrook commented, We took bold urgent action in 2015 to reset the business and position McDonald's…
    about Karen Easterbrook · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Herb Peterson — Person · Primary historical subject (referenced innovator) · 2 mentions · first at
    Central figure in the episode’s McDonald’s breakfast origin story; credited with inventing the Egg McMuffin and pioneering breakfast service as a franchisee.
  • Ray Croc — Person · Referenced executive decision-maker · 6 mentions · first at
    Portrayed as the McDonald’s chairman who had to be convinced (via tasting) to approve the Egg McMuffin/breakfast concept.
  • Jim Deagati — Person · Referenced franchise innovator (supporting historical figure) · 3 mentions · first at
    Introduced early breakfast experimentation (donuts) and is credited in the episode with inventing the Big Mac, setting precedent for franchise-led innovation.
  • David Peterson — Person · Referenced eyewitness/family source · 3 mentions · first at
    Provides first-hand recollections about Herb Peterson’s experimentation process and the pivotal tasting with Ray Kroc.
  • Kevin Ozan — Person · Referenced corporate finance executive (quoted expert) · 1 mention · first at
    Quoted to support the argument that breakfast customers are highly habitual, making breakfast strategically valuable for McDonald’s.
    Customer. And with that statement, welcome back to Today I Found Out, friends. As stated by Kevin Ozan, chief financial officer at McDonald's back in 2022. What's important is…
  • Karen Easterbrook — Person · Referenced CEO (quoted executive) · 1 mention · first at
    Quoted to frame all-day breakfast (2015) as a major strategic change tied to improved sales and profitability.
  • Hannibal Barker — Person · Referenced historical commander (opening anecdote) · 1 mention · first at
    Used in the episode’s hook about breakfast affecting performance; clearly intended to refer to Hannibal Barca of Carthage.
  • Barbara Elizabeth Burke — Person · Referenced family member · 1 mention · first at
    Identified as Herb Peterson’s wife; included as part of the biographical arc and family context around the Egg McMuffin inventor.

Full transcript with timestamps

Breakfast truly is the monarch of meals. That time of the day when one is allowed to gorge on a cornucopia of nonchalantly combined delicacies ranging across the sweet and savory spectrums, all washed down with streams of the world's favorite drug, caffeine, as well as the white liquid excretions of cow and/or the juices from the mangled crushed bodies of our fellow living entities on this earth of the fruing variety. Besides, one can happily plow through such a caloric smorgas board with the reassuring knowledge that our bodies may need huge amounts of energy before tackling another day of heavy toil.

Depending on exactly what your profession is, it's what I tell myself. For example, skipping breakfast is attributed to costing the Roman Republic a massive defeat at the battle of Tribia River in December of 218 BC. On that occasion, brilliant Carthaginian general Hannibal Barker unleashed his elite Namidian cavalry against the Roman camp at Daybreak to provoke them into an early battle. Ancient historian Polibas clearly stated that his object was to get at the enemy before they had had their breakfast or made any preparations for the day. Dehydrated, calorie starved soldiers in the end performing worse than their better nutrition counterparts. The Roman soldiers were thus duped into chasing their enemy across the freezing waters of the river Tribia. When it was time to get close and murdering with the Carthaginians, the Romans, to quote, were in a wretched state from the cold and want of food as the day wore on.

While the Carthaginians, on the contrary, had eaten and drunk in their tents. As covered in our video, who invented fast food restaurants, ancient Romans were no stranger to eeries where patrons could grab quick and fulfilling meals on the go. Unfortunately for them, such establishments known as Papa were clearly not widespread in the countryside by the river Tribia. Fortunately for you, however, the towns and cities where you live are littered with countless fast food places where you can purchase a hot, most tasty and delicious breakfast, a boost of energy that will keep you going through your day at work. Whether you are delivering your carefully crafted presentation to the left flank of the Namibian cavalry, or delivering a volley of javelins against your crossfunctional team, or possibly the other way round. Whatever the case, nowadays it is common place to walk into a McDonald's restaurant early

in the morning and order something for breakfast. According to recent estimates, breakfast may account for up to 25% of McDonald's's sales in the United States. Moreover, breakfast represents the most profitable slice of the Golden Archers business compared to their later day meal offerings, as the costs involved are far cheaper compared to other menu items. And there is another factor which makes breakfast particularly mouthwatering to the seauite at McDonald's. Patrons and human beings in general are creatures of habit. When it comes to meal habits, people tend to be more consistent at breakfast. Once you settle in on a certain purveyor of early morning calories, you are more likely to stick to said purveyor, becoming the most heavenly creature alive to the eyes of marketing, sales, and finance, a repeat customer. And with that statement, welcome back to Today I Found Out, friends. As stated by Kevin Ozan, chief

financial officer at McDonald's back in 2022. What's important is in the morning, more than any other day part, people are habitual. They get into a morning routine. People stopped at a certain place on their way to work, got generally similar products, and went through the same routine every morning. And yet, if you go back some 50 years in time, the McDonald's Corporation had not even considered serving breakfast as a standard offer. As we'll find out later, the company's chairman of the board, Ray Croc, had to be tricked by one of his franchises into tasting what would become the staple of his restaurant's breakfast menu, the Egg McMuffin. Just before we get back into Simon discussing the invention of the glorious Egg McMuffin, speaking of breakfast, an immutable fact about churning out quality content day in and day out on YouTube is invariably having little time for eating leading to skipping meals and

then being genuinely confused about why I stand up at the end of the workday and am dizzy, which no joke has been a long-standing issue in my life. Both from hyperfocusing combined with my hatred of meal preparation activities. That's where today's sponsor, Hule, has made things much easier. Hule makes meal replacement drinks which are just there when I need it. Literally, I keep some of the ready to drink bottles at my desk for minimum thinking or effort involved. Otherwise, they also have it in powder form which can be made in seconds.

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Small habit, big upgrade, and one less thing to think about. Now, back to you, you glorious British bald man.

McDonald's first tentative steps into Breakfast Land came courtesy of entrepreneur and franchisee Jim Deagati, owner of several restaurants across Pennsylvania. Deagati was well known to Ray Croc since 1967 when the restaurant tour had revolutionized the hamburger concept with a simple mathematical formula, two times everything. by stuffing a single sandwich with two beef patties instead of one. And by doubling the amount of all the other ingredients, Deagati had invented the Big Mac. Thus, in 1970, Deagati had no objections from Croc when he introduced a new concept, opening his restaurant in the early hours of the morning to serve donuts for breakfast. This would have been an absolute first for McDonald's, as its restaurants normally open sometime between 11:00 a.m. and noon before this.

Delegarti's breakfast donuts were successful enough, but the Golden Archers company decided not to expand the experiment beyond the confines of Pennsylvania. The true breakfast revolution would come from the opposite coast, more precisely from Santa Barbara, California, and it would be heralded by a former Marine officer, Herb Peterson. Herb Ralph Peterson, who was born on January the 5th, 1919 in Chicago from mom Florence and dad Herbert Ralph, a mechanic and corporal with the US Marine Corps. Normally, the newborn would have gone by Herbert Ralph Jr. to distinguish him from his father. But in this case, it would not be necessary as Mr.

Peterson passed away on March the 11th of the same year, aged just 25. Unfortunately, we don't have any more details about the circumstances of Herb's upbringing. All we know is that at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December the 7th, 1941, Herb was working as a bank clerk in Chicago. Some months later, on August the 11th, 1942, the young Chicagoan followed in his late father's footsteps and joined the US Marine Corps, which bore the brunt of the close quarter fighting in the Pacific against the Imperial Japanese Army. As we've stated many times on this channel, the Pacific Theater was the backdrop of atrocities perpetrated by both sides of the conflict, which are far too often forgotten or swept under the rug by the historioggraphy of World War II. So, if you want to sink your teeth into a topic far more controversial than fast food marketing, how about you take a look at

probably the best video we ever produced, but unfortunately it was age restricted and demonetized, it's a 2-hour documentary swept under the rug, the truth about the Japanese Holocaust, and we wonder why it was demonetized. But let's go back to her Peterson. After 10 weeks of officer candidate school at Quantico, Virginia, her became second lieutenant. We don't have full details about his service, but we do know that he attained the rank of first lieutenant and that he participated in the battle of Okinawa from April to June 1945. According to the Marine Corps historical monograph Okinawa Victory in the Pacific, Peterson served in the First Service Battalion of the First Marine Division, a unit which saw heavy fighting during the battle and suffered 1,655 killed in action. Herb was demobilized in November with the rank of captain and would remain in the Marines reserve until 1956 being honorably discharged as

a major. His discharge papers stated that the success of the Marine Corps in carrying out its missions over the years has been due in large part to the unstinting efforts of officers of your caliber. The commonant takes this opportunity to thank you for your loyal and valuable service. After the end of the war, Herbert returned to Chicago where in 1946 had married Barbara Elizabeth Burke. The two would remain happily married for the ensuing 62 years. In 1945, in his demobilization form, the marine officer had indicated an interest in industrial design and interior decoration. It seems like Herb had a creative streak which he put to good use by joining the prestigious to RC advertising agency where he quickly rose through the ranks becoming vice president. Along the way to the top, Herb was assigned to the firm's largest account, a fast developing food franchise called McDonald's. As part of

the account team, Herb helped ignite a nationwide epidemic of codriophobia by contributing to the creation of Ronald McDonald. Moreover, he's credited with creating McDonald's's first ever slogan, where quality starts fresh every day. The advertising executive soon became friendly with the chain's top man, Ray Croc, who advised him to quit his job. Not because Herb wasn't good at it, but because he could have made way more money by becoming a McDonald's franchisee, especially if he opened a restaurant in some Virgin area on the West Coast, not yet replete with fast food joints. Herb thought it was a good idea, and after much deliberation, he decided to open his first restaurant in the area of Santa Barbara, California. The completely scientific reason why Herb picked the place was because his wife was called, well, Barbara. The Petersons thus set up shop in Galita, a town of 32,000 inhabitants just north of Santa Barbara,

opening McDonald's's location number 1,13. Herb proved to be a successful franchisee with a knack for groundbreaking innovation. According to newspaper Santa Barbara Independent, he was also the first franchise owner to hire women. A veto on female staff had been imposed since the early days of the chain by the McDonald's brothers themselves as they allegedly believed that the presence of waitresses attracted the unwanted presence of ugling teenage boys. Whatever the truth of that, the Santa Barbara Independent does not clarify whether Herb decided to hire female staff unilaterally or whether he had to obtain Ray Croc's approval first. What other outlets do confirm is that several restaurant owners did petition Croc to remove the veto on hiring women. The company president finally relented in 1968 on the condition that hires were quote flatchested and required that they did not work the grill

perceived as too grueling of a job for the delicate limbs of human beings vagina that passed everybody. Herb's business practices in any case were presumably sound as his first restaurant in Galita turned a healthy profit and soon the Petersons expanded operations to further venues in greater Santa Barbara. One of them in Upper State Street would play backdrop to Herb's best known and longest lasting contribution to the culinary arts, the Egg McMuffin. Already by the late 1960s, Peterson had noticed throngs of hungry customers hovering by his restaurant's doors long before the opening time of 11:00 a.m. Being the clever man that he was, he realized that these lost souls were simply craving a quick, tasty, and convenient breakfast served by their favorite fast food joint. They represented a whole new untapped market.

Being an innovator at heart, Herb figured that these potential patrons were not after just any other breakfast. They were after the hamburger equivalent of a breakfast, something they could easily hold in their hands and consume on the go as they headed to work. Herb and his son David then set about experimenting with what could possibly be the hamburger equivalent of that. In David's own recollection, Herb was rather hands-on when it came to cooking matters. Quote, "My dad was a foodie. He loved food. He was very creative in the kitchen. He was great friends with Julia Child. He started tooling around the kitchen. We experimented for 6 months in the restaurant. End quote. The focus of Herbs experiments was his favorite breakfast treat, eggs benedict.

For those of you who are not initiated to the Benedictine order, the basic recipe starts with an English muffin cut in half and toasted. The muffin's halves are then topped with Canadian bacon and poached eggs. Everything slathered with Holland's sauce. The latter condiment is a defining characteristic of eggs benedict, a velvety blend of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and salt. The Peterson's main efforts were directed at turning this barrage of proteic goodness into something portable. One of the defining characteristics of this dish is its sublime gooness bordering on runniness. Two words which probably don't exist and which surely don't translate easily into a handheld breakfast. Herb's first order of business was to tackle the question of the poached egg. Its shape and size were too unpredictable and would not necessarily fit within the circular confines of the English muffin. Besides,

the yolk could evade said confines and merrily stain the fingers, chins, and clothing of patrons. Herb decided to forgo the poaching technique altogether. His eggs would be fried instead on the same griddle used for hamburgers. But how about the size problem? A fried egg could still outsize an English muffin. Peterson devised a very practical solution. According to Santa Barbara Independent, he commissioned a local blacksmith to forge a set of iron rings coated in Teflon with each ring replicating the exact measurements of a standard English muffin. Herb and David then placed the rings on top of the griddle and cooked their eggs inside them. This way, they ensured that every fried egg fit perfectly within the muffin. Next, Peterson had to address the Hollanday's conundrum. Any version of the sauce would prove just too runny to comfortably complement his concoction. After much experimentation,

the restaurant tour settled on a simple and effective replacement, a slice of partially melted cheese. It added softness, flavor, and was disciplined enough not to burst out of the muffin. The final touch was to apply within the new sandwich the perfect combination for all types of eggs, benedict or otherwise, a slice of grilled bacon. The egg and bacon combo is so widespread in the US, UK, and other countries that it is almost commonplace, giving us a permanent pervasive foundation of reality as we know it. In fact, you would be forgiven to think that this breakfast dish was as old as time. But it actually became a routine staple only about a century ago and its almost immediate popularity was the result of a well-crafted PR campaign. Towards the end of the 19th century, most Americans liked their breakfasts to be proteinbased.

Every state, even every county, had their own versions of a rich breakfast influenced by locally available produce and the cultural traditions of local ethnic groups. To overgeneralize, Americans usually consumed meat or fish, either cooked fresh or reheated from last night's leftovers. But as the 19th century turned into the 20th, breakfast choices drifted towards other options such as cereals or the European inspired continental breakfast popularized by hotels and restaurants on the east coast. Let's now skip to 1922 when the beachnut packing company was looking for new strategies to increase demand for their main product, bacon. The company hired former editor and press agent Edward Bernese, now a public relations council. But Mr. Bernese was not just any public relations council.

In addition to being the nephew of Sigman Freud, he would be remembered as the father of modern PR. Bernese followed the intuition that Bacon could find its natural place on the breakfast tables of Americans. Thanks to his experience working for medical journals, the PR Supreo was quite adept at conducting scientific research and analysis. Thus, he commissioned research which uncovered that to quote, "The American public ate a very light breakfast of coffee, maybe a roll, and orange juice. It appeared that US citizens had succumbed to decadent European habits. Bernese then approached a doctor he knew from his medical journal days and asked his opinion on breakfast matters. The physician replied exactly what Beachnut wanted to hear. In his view, a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs was the best way to replenish energy lost during the night. Bernese then asked the doctor if he could send a letter to 5,000 of his

colleagues asking them their opinion on the matter. Some 4,500 replied, most of them agreeing that indeed a heavy substantial breakfast was to quote, "Better for the health of the American people." The astute PR man then asked the journal Medical Review of Reviews to publish the results of this survey, which were later picked up by Generalist Press in August and September of 1922. The Chicago Tribune came up with headline, "Good breakfast if brain worker," physicians say. This indicated that a high protein, high calorie breakfast was not just the best option for manual laborers, but also for office staff or brain workers, as they put it.

The Tribune quoted one Dr. Reich of Cington, Kentucky, who recommended the first meal of the day should consist of fruit cereals bacon eggs toast or as we in the South prefer, hot biscuits. The Los Angeles Times went several steps further, publishing an editorial titled, "Enter the big breakfast," which managed to combine dietary advice with political commentary. Quote, "We were in dire peril of falling for the finicky French roll and chocolate, the Virginia English tea and marmalade, the slice of fruit and swallow of vermouth of the Mediterranean. Not so breakfasted the men who hued a new civilization from the rocks of the western continent. Ham, eggs, bacon, cornmeal, buckwheat cakes, maple syrup, codfish bowls, coffee in great mugs, hot biscuits, butter without stint or limit, hash, fried potatoes, apple pie, farm-ade cream cheese, bowls of warm frothy milk.

On the strength of such breakfast as these, the young republic grew to world overlordship. And then there came a period when the good old American breakfast suffered a temporary eclipse. It came to be a fad to start the day with a nibble instead of with real elites. About that time, Woodro Wilson was elected president. End quote. Bernes had thus delivered a publicity masterpiece for his clients at Beachnut. Some papers stated that a hearty breakfast was the best choice for the health of brain workers. Others implied that a rich morning meal was the foundation upon which a rockhune breed of Americans had risen to world overlordship. What they all agreed on uh were the indispensable food stuff central to every worthy breakfast, eggs, and bacon. Bernese's objective was to expand the market for saltcured pork.

Sure. And in that way, he succeeded. But along the way, his campaign's byproduct was to cement the reputation of the egg, fried, poached, or otherwise as bacon's inseparable companion in breakfast. Her perfected the ultimate incarnation of the egg and bacon combo in early 1972. Much like Jim Deagati had done in Pittsburgh with his donuts, Peterson piloted the breakfast shift in Santa Barbara, serving what would become known as the Egg McMuffin. Naturally, it was a success. The demand was already there as patrons were all too eager to finally grab breakfast at their favorite Golden Archers venue. And the Petersons soon realized how profitable it was to sell egg sandwiches compared to more expensive beef stuffed buns. It was too good of an innovation to keep it local and Herb started planning his next move going national. But for that he needed the blessing of Ray Croc at that time the chairman of the board of McDonald's.

Herb was an experienced adman and thus concocted the perfect pitch. Peterson invited Croc to Santa Barbara asking him to come take a look at something. Crucially, he did not reveal what knowing that Croc might have dismissed the idea straight away. Upon Herb's insistence, Rey finally relented and was thus lured out a company HQ, much like a Roman legionary pursuing a Numidian horseman. Herb's pitch was simple and effective. Dressed in a chef's attire, he prepared a McMuffin for Croc. And then another, and then another, as described by David Peterson, he invited Ray Croc, the founder of McDonald's, out. I was there. My dad was in a chef's costume, and he, in front of Ray, made an egg McMuffin. Ray ate four of them and said, "Oh my god, we've got to do this." Croc would later admit that if Herb had pitched the new sandwich over the phone or by mail, he would have rejected it out of hand because it was a

crazy idea, a breakfast sandwich. During the tasting session in Santa Barbara, the chairman was not immediately sold, quoting again, I boggled a bit at the presentation. But then I tasted it and I was sold. Wow. End quote. Now Herb had to convince the rest of the board. About 6 months later, Peterson flew to McDonald's headquarters in Oakbrook, Illinois to cook more servings of his breakfast sandwiches for the board of directors. They all gave their thumbs up, and Patty Turner, and executive's wife, came up with the name that we know today, the Egg McMuffin. Before the end of the year, the McMuffin had already been introduced in select locations at the price of 63 cents, or about $3.75 in today's money. And the national rollout was completed in 1975. This was not just about introducing a new menu item. This was a revolution in the restaurant business as the largest national fast food chain had finally

opened up for breakfast. Again, this is something we consider obvious today. But back then, it was a seismic shift which would fling open the doors to a new huge market. Company executives plunged into the new business opportunities with Gusto, developing an entire line of items which debuted in 1977 as the McDonald's breakfast menu. In addition to the Egg McMuffin, it included hot cakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, and a Danish pastry. Initially, franchises were not so keen on embracing a new menu, let alone the new opening hours. It involved going through additional training as well as sourcing and storing a new set of ingredients. Most of all, it meant working longer hours. But restaurant owners soon realized that the additional efforts were well worth it, as the breakfast revolution attracted a sizable nucle whilst generating loyalty and repeat custom. By 1981, 18% of all McDonald's sales in the US came from the

breakfast shift. By 1986, the company could boast that their restaurant served one quarter of all American breakfasts that weren't cooked at home. 40 years after the introduction of the Egg McMuffin, the McDonald's Corporation was struck by a profound, enlightening epiphany. People love eating breakfast food regardless of the time of the day. And so it was that in October 2015, McDonald's responded to customer demands by serving breakfast menus all day in many locations. This move was described as McDonald's's biggest strategic change since it rolled out the cafe beverages nationwide in 2009. The move was clearly a success. In his first quarterly statement for 2016, the then CEO Steve Easterbrook commented, "We took bold urgent action in 2015 to reset the business and position McDonald's to deliver sustained profitable growth. We ended the year with momentum, including positive comparable sales across all

segments for both the quarter and the year. A testament to the swift changes we made and the early impact of our turnaround efforts. Now, allow me to translate that for you. In 2015, we finally did what our customers had been asking us to do for ages. As a result, we ended the year with loads of cash. Shocking, really. Investment analyst Mark Kalinowski agreed that the all day breakfast had been the right move, quoting him. Clearly, All Day Breakfast is helping bring back lapsed customers and may even be bringing in new customers who wouldn't normally be going to McDonald's. By April 2016, the company was able to confirm that their quarterly profits had increased by 35% compared to the previous quarter, a direct consequence of the Dayong Breakfast's popularity. The practice was temporarily suspended in the spring of 2020 following the CO 19 outbreak and the ensuing restrictions.

As more people started working from home, fewer patrons felt the need to pop into McDonald's for breakfast on the way to work. As restrictions lifted, the Golden Archers company realized the importance of recapturing their early morning custom before they settled into that inconvenient new habit of, you know, actually preparing their own breakfast at home as humankind has been doing for millennia. Since then, any locations, for whatever reason, have not returned to the all day breakfast offering, despite the fact that the corporation committed $200 million into marketing campaigns enticing Americans to return to their favorite Mickey De's for a McMuffin. Throwing money at a problem does not necessarily work, but in this case, it actually did. Based on 2023 figures, McDonald's is clearly the market leader in the breakfast space, capturing more than 35% of all morning visits to eeries of all kinds. Herbert

Ralph Peterson, the herald of the fast food breakfast revolution, would not live enough to experience the advent of the all day breakfast. The inventor of the Egg McMuffin, died in his Santa Barbara home on March the 25th, 2008 at the age of 89. His wife Barbara would die the following year. Their son, David, recalled his father's commitment to the Golden Archers. My dad was a marketing guy to the bone. He loved McDonald's. He loved the brand. But most of all, he wished to celebrate Herb's dedication to people, to his employees, his customers, and most of all, his large family of four children, 11 grandchildren, and five great-g grandandchildren. He had a magic twinkle, a pied piper personality. It's about people and kindness and following through on that. Or misses good humor and kindness is effevescence. We called him Mr. Christmas because he celebrated life as he loved his wife, my mother. They'd been married for 62

years. You don't see that too much today.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?"?

Herb Peterson (Guest), Ray Croc, Jim Deagati.

What is "Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?" about?

The Egg McMuffin's creation is linked to the broader significance of breakfast in both historical and contemporary contexts, illustrating how essential morning meals are for energy and productivity. The discussion also draws a fascinating parallel to an ancient military defeat attributed to the absence of breakfast, highlighting the meal's importance throughout history.

What is mentioned in this Today I Found Out episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Herb Peterson, Ray Croc, Jim Deagati, David Peterson, Kevin Ozan, Karen Easterbrook. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Who Invented the Egg McMuffin?"?

The episode runs 24 min; the transcript is about 4,673 words in 34 timestamped sections.

More from Today I Found Out

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.