Fast food is not a new idea. In ancient Rome there were vendors who sold food ready to eat from street stalls.

Frank Hardart and Joe Horn open the first Automat on June 9, 1902. The beginnings of modern fast food.

McDonald's fast food restaurant opened its training school, Hamburger University, in Oak Brook, Illinois in 1961.
The first drive up McDonald's was opened in 1975
McDonalds introduced Chicken McNuggets in 1983.

About 1/2 of the calories in the average fast food meal come from fat.