Mark Twain

By zf6401

  • Mark Twain Born

    Samuel Langhorne Clemens is born in Florida, Missouri, the sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens.

  • Death of Twain's Father

    Samuel's father John Clemens dies, forcing the family into financial hardship.

  • Death of Twain's Brother

    Twain's youngest brother Henry is killed tragically at the age of 20 in an explosion on the steamboat Pennsylvania.

  • "Jumping Frog" Published

    The short story "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (later "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County") appears in the New York Saturday Press. The story proves extremely popular and raises Twain's profile as a writer.

  • Twain Meets Future Wife

    Twain is introduced to Olivia "Livy" Langdon, the sister of a friend. He is instantly smitten.

  • The Innocents Abroad Published

    Mark Twain's first book, The Innocents Abroad, becomes a bestseller.

  • Twain Publishes The Gilded Age

    Twain publishes the satiric novel The Gilded Age, its title giving a name to an entire era of American history.

  • Tom Sawyer

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is published.

  • Huck Finn

    In the span of less than a year, Twain publishes both his greatest fiction and non-fiction works: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

  • Twain's Last Novel

    Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain's last novel, is published.

  • Family Troubles

    Twain's daughter Jean is institutionalized due to severe epilepsy.

  • Death of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain dies at the age of 74 at his home in Redding, Connecticut.