Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), an American humorist, journalist, lecturer, and novelist. He was the voice of his generation and one of the most celebrated authors of the late 19th century, writing some of America's best-known and most memorable works of literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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Definition
Timeline
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1835 - 1910Life of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens).
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3 Feb 1863Samuel Clemens, then a reporter, first uses the pen name "Mark Twain" in sending a travel dispatch for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada. Clemens, who had served on riverboats, thought the name was funny as it was a nautical term on the rivers meaning "two fathoms" and so safe water.
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1870Mark Twain marries Olivia Langdon.
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1873Mark Twain writes The Gilded Age.
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1876Mark Twain writes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
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1881Mark Twain writes The Prince and the Pauper.
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1884Mark Twain writes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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1889Mark Twain writes A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court.
