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Mark Twain Facts

Mark Twain Facts
Mark Twain was the author best known for writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, on November 30th, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. His father was John Marshall Clemens, an attorney and judge and his mother was Jane Lampton Clemens. He had six siblings however only three of them survived past childhood. Mark Twain's father died when he was 11, and he became a printer's apprentice the next year. His writing career began in the Hannibal Western Union, where his articles and humorous sketches were published. His printing career took him to various cities in the U.S. His big break came in 1865 when his story Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog was published.
Interesting Mark Twain Facts:
In 1867 Mark Twain took a cruise in the Mediterranean that lasted five months. It was during that trip that he wrote The Innocents Abroad, a non-fiction travel book, which was published in 1869 and became a bestseller.
Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon (nicknamed Livy) in February, 1870. Her father was a wealthy New York coal merchant.
Mark Twain and his wife lived in Buffalo, New York, and had four children including Langdon, Susy, Clara, and Jean.
In 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was published in 1885.
In 1881 Mark Twain's novel The Prince and the Pauper was published.
Life on the Mississippi was a travel book written by Mark Twain and published in 1883.
Mark Twain's novels include The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889), The American Claimant (1892), Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (1896), Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896), A Double Barrelled Detective Story (1902), A Horse's Tale (1907), and The Mysterious Stranger (1916).
Mark Twain had several short story collections published including The Washoe Giant in San Francisco (1938) published many years after his death.
Mark Twain worked as a steamboat pilot in 1859. It was his experience as a riverboat pilot that gave him the idea for his name Mark Twain. His name means it is 'safe to sail.
Mark Twain published under other pseudonyms including Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, Sergeant Fathom, Rambler, and Epaminondas Adrastus Blab.
In total Mark Twain had 28 books published, four of which were published after his death, including Mark Twain's Autobiography, Mark Twain's Notebook, Letters from the Earth, and Queen Victoria's Jubilee.
Mark Twain was outspoken in his belief that slavery should be abolished.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was established in 1998 by the Kennedy Center to be given to people who impact American Society in a way similar to the way Mark Twain did with his satire and humor. Some recipients have included Whoopi Goldberg, Will Ferrell, and Richard Pryor.
Mark Twain died on April 21st, 1910 at the age of 74, in Redding, Connecticut.


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