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Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri to John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens.
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The Clemens family moves to Hannibal, Missouri,to a town by the Mississippi River.
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Samuel's father John Clemens dies, leaving family in financial hardships.
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At the age of 15, Mark Twain leaves school and goes to work as a printer in Hannibal.
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Samuel Clemens is educated to become a licensed river pilot. There he learns of the phrase "mark twain," which efers to the river depth at which a boat is safe to navigate. He soon adopts it as his pen name.
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Twain's youngest brother Henry is killed in an explosion on the steamboat Pennsylvania. Twain encouraged Henry to become a steamboat pilot and he blames himself for his brother's death.
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The Civil War starts, which ends Twain's steamboat career.
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Twain travels to Nevada with his brother Orion. He tries mining and other things with no success, before becoming a reporter for the Virginia City Daily Territorial Enterprise
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A year after moving to California, his first story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is published.
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Twain traverls to Hawaii as a reporter for a San Francisco newspaper. He comes back and gives his first public lecture
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The Innocents Abroad is Twain's first published book, which instantly becomes a bestseller.
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Mark Twain marries Olivia Langdon and they have their first son, Langdon.
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Twain moves his family to Hartford, Connecticut. He publishes Roughing It. Twains daughter Susy is born, but their son Langdon dies of diphtheria.
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Twain publishes The Gilded Age.
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Clara Clemens is born. She is the only child to outlive Mark Twain.
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Twain publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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Jean Clemens, the last child, is born.
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In memory of his steamboat years, Twain publishes Life on the MIssissippi.
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Mark Twain opens a Publishing Company named Charles L. Webster & Co., which fails and ruins his financial situation.
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Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckberry Finn.
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Twain publishes A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It is not a success.
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In financial ruins, Twain and his family moves to Europe to find cheaper living.
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Twain Publishes is last novel Pudd'nhead Wilson.
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Twain goes on a worldwide lecture tour to pay off his debt.
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Twain's wife and two daughters die during those years. Twain writes his biography.
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Mark Twain dies at the age of 74 in Redding, Connecticut.
