The reason is that before there can be a cheeseburger, there must, of course, be a hamburger. And the hamburger was invented — more on this momentarily — in Wisconsin in 1885 by 15-year-old Charlie Nagreen, a true American hero.

It then stands to reason that sometime in the next few years — and surely in the next couple of decades prior to 1920 — someone in Wisconsin, where cheese was not exactly in short supply, placed a piece of cheese on his or her burger and created the cheeseburger.

It may be I am a bit sensitive on this topic because five years ago, the effort to declare Seymour, west of Green Bay, the birthplace of the hamburger sparked controversy.

At the time — January 2007 — the New York Times took note of a feud between Athens, Texas, and New Haven, Conn. People in Texas were insisting that the hamburger was invented in 1904 by Athens luncheonette owner Fletcher Davis, who took it to the St. Louis World's Fair, where it was a big hit.

Meanwhile, the owner of Louis' Lunch in New Haven was claiming — with a Library of Congress citation, no less — that his grandfather made the first burger in 1895.