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Mark Twain Birth
Mark Twain was born prematurely in Florida, Missouri, November 30th to his parents Judge John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. -
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Mark Twain's Lifespan
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Family moves
The family moves to Hannibal, Missouri, where Samuel’s father begins to operate a general store. -
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Family moves in house
The family moves into a house now known as Mark Twain Boyhood Home. -
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Poverty forces family to move
When the family went into poverty it forced them to move out of the Boyhood Home. They then moved in with Dr. Grant’s family above Grant’s Drug Store. -
Judge Clemens dies
On this day Judge Clemens passes and the family moves back to the Boyhood Home. -
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Sam works with newspaper
Older brother Orion returns to Hannibal in September and purchased the Western Union newspaper, so Sam started working for his older brother. He joined the Cadets of Temperance. In 1852, while Orion was on a trip Sam edited his newspaper. He entered two drawings to the Saturday Evening Post. His sketch, “The Dandy Frightening the Squatter,” was then published into the May 1st issue of Carpet-Bag of Boston, Massachusetts. -
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Sam leaves Hannibal
Sam decides to leave Hannibal in June and become a journeyman printer in St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York. -
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Sam becomes an assistant
Sam takes on the job of being an assistant to a printer shop in Cincinnati, Ohio. -
Becomes licensed pilot
Sam becomes a fully licensed pilot after being an apprentice river pilot for Captain Horace Bixby of the Paul Jones. Once a fully licensed pilot, he piloted a bunch of steamboats. -
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River days end
The river days came to an end due to the start of the Civil War. Sam recalls his brief stop in Hannibal and his soldiering days in his story “A Private History of a Campaign that Failed.” Then travels by a stage coach to Carson City, Nevada, with Orion who has just been appointed as Secretary to the Territorial Governor of Nevada. -
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First used name "Mark Twain"
1863 was the year Sam first used the pen name Mark Twain on "Enterprise". The next year he decided to work for San Francisco's newspaper in California. -
"Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" published
When visiting Jackass Hill in California he heard the Jumping Frog story. Soon after, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” was then published in the 18 November issue of New York Saturday Press. -
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Contracted for first book "The Innocents Abroad"
After "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published in 1867, Twain gets contracted for his first book "The Innocents Abroad " in 1868. He had a Midwest lecture tour during the months of November and December. -
Marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira
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His son Langdon was born
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Family moves too Hartford, Connecticut
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Daughter Susy Born, Son Dies
While building a large house now known and preserved today as Mark Twain House in Hartford his daughter Susy is born and his son dies. -
Daughter Clara born
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer published
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Daughter Jean born
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National lecture tour
Twain goes on a national lecture tour with George Washington Cable. -
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"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published in 1885, just before Mark Twain’s publishing firm released a best-seller, "Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant" the brought in a lot of money to the Grant family. -
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Twain receives Master of Arts degree from Yale University.
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Twain earns title “Belle of New York"
A lot happened during these years, his success got him "Belle of New York" but in 1894 him and his publishing firm faced bankruptcy following Panic of 1893. By 1898 he was able to pay off his debts and in 1901 received his honorary doctorate degree at Yale University. -
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Last visit to Hannibal
In 1902 Twain receives the honorary Doctorate Degree from University of Missouri and helped in dedicating the Eugene Field’s House as a museum property in St. Louis previous to visiting Hannibal. In 1903 Olivia became very ill and passed on the following year causing Twain to move back to New York. -
Daughter Jene dies
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Mark Twain dies
After going to Bermuda for his health and struggling with heart complications, Twain returned home to Stormfield. He died on April 21st 1910. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. Halley’s Comet was in the skies on his birth date and death date.