This Day in History:, United States <br />Nicknamed Uncle Sam.<br />September 7, 1813.<br />The nickname goes back <br />to the War of 1812. It's linked to a <br />NY meatpacker named Samuel Wilson. <br />He supplied the U.S. Army with beef.<br />Wilson stamped his food barrels "U.S.," <br />and soldiers began referring to his products as "Uncle Sam's.".<br />The name caught the attention of media <br />and stuck as a representation of the <br />federal government.<br />Political cartoonist Thomas Nash <br />was the first to draw Uncle Sam with <br />the stars and stripes suite and white beard.<br />The most famous image of Uncle Sam, <br />captioned, “I Want You For The U.S. Army,” <br />was the work of artist James Montgomery Flagg.<br />Congress finally declared <br />Samuel Wilson as “the progenitor <br />of America’s national symbol <br />of Uncle Sam” in 1961
