In conjunction with Grub Street, food historian George Motz and animator Jorge Corona have joined forces to provide an animated history of the hamburger. While the item is easily one of America's signature dishes, it didn't exactly originate stateside — at least not from stage one. The earliest forms of the hamburger can date all the way back to the Mongols of the 13th century, then on to the Germans and so on, before making its way to the States. Don't take our word for it, however. Let Motz and Corona do their thing, highlighted on hamburger wrappers, above.

For more on hamburgers, here are the 50 most important burgers in New York.