Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was an American writer. He was born in 1835 at Hannibal or possibly Florida, Missouri, and died in 1910. He started life as a compositor, in 1851 became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi river, later taking his pseudonym from the call of the leadsman when reporting the soundings. After being a reporter on a newspaper in Virgina City, Nevada, he tried mining and journalism in San Francisco and in 1866 visited the Sandwich Islands.
He wrote several books based on the Mississippi river, including 'The Adventures of TomSawyer', in 1876 which explored the lawless side of vagrant boyhood and in 1883 'The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn'. His first story, however was 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' which appeared in The Californian in 1867. His first book, 'Innocents Abroad' was published in 1869 and was based upon his first visit to Europe, and established his reputation as a humorist. Research Mark Twain