Mark Twain was the pen name for Samuel Longhorn Clemens. Samuel was born in Florida, Missouri in a little town called Hannibal on November 30,1835 to John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens.   His father died when he was twelve. At first he was an apprentice to a a printer, and soon joined his only sibling, his br../other Orion's Hannibal Journal and became familiar with humor writing.       When he was seventeen he and his br../other Orion traveled many places. He traveled as a printer.

He tried steam boat piloting and silver and gold mining, along with being an author, lecturer, satirist, and humorist  Later he married a woman  by the name of Olivia Langdon. Together they had three girls. Their names were (in order) Suzy, Clara, and Jean.  Besides having his father die at an early age and traveling all over the country, his life was not that unusual.
 

What made him famous was his books he wrote. The most famous ones were, "Tragedy of Pudd'n Head Wilson", "Personal Recollections of  Joan Arc",  "Tom Sawyer Abroad", and "Tom Sawyer Detective". But two of his most famous books would have to be Adventures of "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer".  These books , experts say, was a major influence on the 20th century American fiction. His famous pen name he borrowed from the Mississippi leadman's call, meaning " 2 fathoms deep", which was safe water for a steamboat.