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 Born in Florida, Missouri  November 30, 1835  The sixth (of seven) child born to John and Jane Clemens  When he was four, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River Pictures from

 His uncle and father both owned slaves from whom he would listen to stories and songs. This is where he learned to love story telling.  Missouri was one of the fifteen slave states when the American Civil War broke out, so Twain grew up amongst the racism, lynch mobs, hangings, and general inhumane oppression of African Americans.

 Went to school up to the 5 th grade  Left school at age 11 when his father died in 1847  Educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school Pictures from

 First job was as a printers apprentice in Missouri.  From Missouri he went to New York and Philadelphia and worked for several newspapers.  In 1857 he came back to Missouri and worked as a riverboat captain. When he started his writing career, Samuel Clemens adopted the name “Mark Twain,” which meant two fathoms, a safe depth for a riverboat. Pictures from

 In 1861 Mark Twain became a silver miner in Nevada; he was unsuccessful.  In Nevada he began to write for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper; this is when he started going by the name of Mark Twain. Pictures from

 In 1870, Mark Twain married Olivia Langhorn. She was the daughter of a New York coal magnate, a member of the country’s wealthy elite. She was the partner, editor, and fellow traveler in success and failure for the next thirty-five years. She also furnished him her family’s home in Elmira, New York, a place where he visited often and wrote many of his best-loved books.  They had four children Pictures from

 In 1865 Twain published his first short story, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog”.  In 1876 Tom Sawyer was published and in 1884 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published, both of which are his most popular works. Pictures from

 In 1889, Twain published A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, a science- fiction/historical novel about ancient England.  His next major work, in 1894, was The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a novel that some observers described as "bitter."  He also wrote short stories, essays and several other books, including a study of Joan of Arc. Some of these later works have enduring merit, and his unfinished work The Chronicle of Young Satan has fervent admirers today. Pictures from

 By 1900 Twain had become America’s foremost celebrity. He was invited to attend ship launchings, anniversary gatherings, political conventions, and countless dinners. Reporters met him at every port of call, anxious to print a new quote from the famous humorist. To enhance his image, he took to wearing white suits and loved to stroll down the street and see people staring at him. Pictures from

 Because of financial problems, Clemens lived in Europe from , but this was neither his first nor last trip abroad. In fact, he was a constant traveler. From the age of 17 to the last few weeks of his life he was always discovering new places and revisiting old. He crisscrossed the Atlantic more than a dozen times and also saw Turkey, Palestine, Hawaii, Australia, India, and South Africa. Pictures from

 He developed as a speaker and traveled on lecture circuits, much in demand. His early performances combined humor, information and eloquence in measures that delighted most people. Pictures from

 When he died on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, newspapers around the country declared, “The whole world is mourning.” He had become Mark Twain, a proud possession of the American nation.  Rests in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Livy’s hometown of Elmira, New York, buried beside her and the children. Pictures from