Burger King's first restaurant, originally called Insta Burger King, was opened on December 4, 1954 in a suburb of Miami, Florida, USA by James McLamore and David Edgerton, who were both alumni of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
As the company grew, it encountered several issues in regards to trademarks, the most famous two incidents occurred with the similarly named Burger King in Mattoon, Illinois and now defunct Burger King restaurant in Queensland, Australia.