Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States, was "born" on Sept. 7, 1813, and inspired by New York businessman Samuel Wilson, who provided rations to troops in the War of 1812.

Uncle Sam didn’t always have a beard. Early depictions in publications like Punch and the New York Lantern in the mid-19th century symbolized America as a man with striped pants, ...

Sam got his beard in 1870 in Harper's Weekly. ... Uncle Sam has been busy ever since: consorting with Miss Liberty, exhorting young men to join the colors, ...

The Uncle Sam known today was created first by cartoonist Thomas Nast, who drew a tall, young man with a beard wearing the top hat, striped pants and waistcoat.

He has performed as Uncle Sam more than 1,000 times, including with a July Fourth Quartet in 1994 and at the Postal Service’s first day issue of a 22 cent Uncle Sam stamp in Troy on Nov. 8, 1998.

Uncle Sam is 100 years old. ... After the Civil War, political cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized the image of Uncle Sam, eventually giving him the white beard and stars-and-stripes suit.