—1954—David Edgerton opens Insta Burger King in Miami, selling 18-cent fire-grilled hamburgers and 18-cent milkshakes. Three months later, Jim McLamore matches Edgerton's capital and the co-founders form a corporation called Burger King of Miami Inc.

—1963—South Florida Restaurants Inc. changes its name to Burger King Corp.

—1967—The Pillsbury Co. acquires Burger King Corp. for $18 million. There are 274 restaurants in operation with a total of 8,000 employees.

—1988—Grand Metropolitan PLC acquires The Pillsbury Co. and its subsidiaries, including Burger King, for $5.79 billion.

—1997—Grand Metropolitan merges with Guinness to create a new company, Diageo PLC.

—2000—Diageo announces its intention to spin off Burger King Corp. from its portfolio.

—2002—A group comprised of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners buys Burger King for $1.5 billion.

—2006—Burger King goes public.

—2010—Burger King is acquired by 3G Capital and taken private. The new owners begin a yearlong process of reviving the ailing business with new menu items and remodeled stores.

—2012—Burger King returns to the New York Stock Exchange after 3G Capital sells a 29 percent stake in the hamburger chain for $1.4 billion in cash to Justice Holdings LTD, a U.K.-based entity specifically set up by investors

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