Mark Twain is one of the most famous, and widely American authors. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as the author Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835, in
Florida, Missouri. His parents, John and Jane Clemens, moved their family to
Hannibal, Missouri, in 1839, four years after Samuel was born.
Living in Hannibal, a port along the Mississippi River, Clemens developed a sort of bond with the river and as a child aspired to one day be a steamboat pilot.
Mark Twain received his pseudonym while working aboard Mississippi River stern-wheel boats plying the river at that time. A weighted, knotted line was cast ahead of the boat to determine the water depth ahead of the boat. The call; "Mark Twain" meant a water depth of two fathoms, (12 feet), which indicated there was enough depth for the boat to proceed.
Book titles by Mark Twain include; "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Innocents Abroad".
