Today Is National Cheeseburger Day

It's National Cheeseburger Day! Here are some cheeseburger facts for you.

It might have been invented by mistake in Pasadena, California, in 1924. The story goes that a guy named Lionel Sternberger was working at his dad's hamburger stand just outside of L.A. when he burned one side of a burger and covered it with cheese.

We prefer American cheese over cheddar . . . but it's close. According to a recent survey of 2,000 Americans, 66% like American cheese on their burger, while 65% like cheddar. Swiss is a distant third with 43%. (People could like more than one cheese, which is why the percentages add up to over 100%.)

We have strong opinions on where the cheese should go on a burger. The vast majority of people think cheese slices belong on top of the burger patty. So people lost their minds in 2017 when Google introduced a cheeseburger emoji that featured cheese below the patty. The backlash was so bad Google changed it a month later.

A restaurant in Michigan once made a 1,800-pound cheeseburger that cost $10,000. It used 2,000 pounds of raw meat . . . 300 pounds of cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and lettuce . . . and a bun that weighed 250 pounds. It took 16 hours to cook, and when it was all put together, it was almost three feet tall and six feet wide.

Jimmy Buffett's song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was inspired by an actual meal. He'd been forced to eat canned food and peanut butter while stuck on a boat in the Caribbean. And when he eventually made it to land, he headed to a restaurant and ordered a cheeseburger.

Margaritaville/Youtube

People were asked about different comfort foods, and if they've been eating them more often this year.  And burgers are second on the list.  Here's the Top 10

1.  Pizza.  55% said they're eating it more often.

2.  Burgers, 48%.

3.  Ice cream, 46%.

4.  French fries, 45%.

5.  Mac-and-cheese, 39%.

6.  Potato chips, 39%.

7.  Cookies, 38%.

8.  Chocolate, 37%.

9.  Cereal, 34%.

10.  Fried chicken, 34%.  The survey also found 85% of us have gained weight this year.  About six pounds on average.