Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. His birth name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens and he grew up in the small town of Hannibal, which would later inspire the fictional setting of St. Petersburg in his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. His father died when he was 11, and young Sam had to leave school to become a printer’s apprentice to help support his family. He grew a mustache and got to work.

As a young adult, Clemens traveled as a printer and eventually achieved his dream of becoming a Mississippi riverboat pilot—an experience that greatly influenced his writing and led to his famous pen name “Mark Twain,” a term from river navigation meaning "two fathoms deep." His river career ended with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

Twain went west towards Nevada and California, in pursuit of a career in silver mining before turning to journalism. He gained national attention with the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in 1865 and his wit and storytelling style began attracting readers and gaining him attention.

Twain married Olivia Langdon in 1870 and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the time in which he wrote of his best-known works, such as:

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
  
  
  

• The Prince and the Pauper (1881)
  
  
  

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
  
  
  

These novels made Twain begin to be considered a major American author.

Fun Fact: Mark Twain said he loved cats more than people, and at one point owned more than 19 cats at one time. 

Despite his success, Twain made poor investments that led to his financial ruin. Twain went on a global lecture tour to pay off his debts, he visited Europe, India, and Australia, among other places on his tour. He eventually cleared his debts through writing and speaking to large audiences around the world.

In later life, Twain lost his wife and several of his children and as a result his novels became darker and more cynical. Despite the change, he remained a beloved public figure. Twain predicted his own death, saying he would die as Halley’s comet returned. Mark Twain died at the age of 74 on April 21, 1910, just after Halley's Comet returned, exactly as he had predicted. People still remember Mark Twain and his writings, and his legacy lives on through his children and his novels.