95 Fun Facts About Mark Twain

What was Mark Twain's real name?

Samuel Langhorne Clemens: yet by his last years a firm called the Mark Twain Company was looking after his affairs.

Twain was born in 1835 in a village called Florida, in which state?

Missouri: Twain joked that the village had a hundred people and that he increased its population by one per cent.

Which Mississippi port town, Twain's boyhood home, became the fictional St. Petersburg?

Hannibal: slavery was legal there then, and it became a central theme of Huckleberry Finn.

Which novelist did Twain say had scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115?

James Fenimore Cooper: Twain opened by quoting critics who praised Cooper, then said they could not have read him.

Which steamboat pilot took Twain on as a cub for $500, payable out of his first wages?

Horace E. Bixby: Twain's portrait of him as a demanding teacher fills much of Life on the Mississippi.

Why did Twain rename the Gilded Age character first called Eschol Sellers?

A real man with that name objected: Twain recalled him arriving with a formidable libel suit, so the character became Beriah Sellers.

Twain's younger brother Henry died in 1858 after what?

The steamboat Pennsylvania's boiler exploded: Twain had found him the job aboard and blamed himself for the rest of his life.

In 1861, what did Twain serve in for about two weeks before it disbanded?

Confederate militia: he later turned the episode into the highly fictionalized sketch 'The Private History of a Campaign That Failed'.

Twain went west in 1861 because his brother Orion had become secretary of which territory?

Nevada: the long stagecoach ride west became material for his book Roughing It.

In which newspaper did Twain first sign a piece with his famous pen name, in 1863?

The Territorial Enterprise: he signed a humorous letter that way, and by 1864 he had moved on to San Francisco newspapers.

Which future British prime minister did Twain introduce to an American lecture audience in 1900?

Winston Churchill: the young war correspondent was touring America to lecture about his Boer War experiences.

In which California mining town did Twain say he heard the tall tale behind his jumping frog story?

Angels Camp: the tale, which he said he heard at its hotel, became 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County', his first big success, in 1865.

Twain's 1866 letters for the Sacramento Union, the basis of his first lectures, reported from where?

The Sandwich Islands (Hawaii): he later folded that adventure into Roughing It, alongside his years out West.

Twain's 1867 cruise to Europe and the Holy Land, basis of The Innocents Abroad, was on which ship?

The Quaker City: on board, Charles Langdon reportedly showed him a picture of his sister Olivia, and Twain said it was love at first sight.

Twain married Olivia Langdon in February 1870 in which New York town, where the family is buried?

Elmira: he wrote much of Huckleberry Finn during summers at Quarry Farm, his sister-in-law's home there.

What did Olivia's sister Susan Crane build for Twain at Quarry Farm in 1874?

An octagonal study: set apart from the main house, it gave him a quiet place in which to write.

Twain built his Hartford home next door to which famous author?

Harriet Beecher Stowe: before building their own house next door, the Clemenses rented one in the same Nook Farm neighbourhood.

Which inventor did Twain befriend, spending much time in his laboratory?

Nikola Tesla: Tesla said Twain's early books, which he read while gravely ill as a young man, might have been behind his recovery.

Twain's most commercially successful invention was what?

A self-pasting scrapbook: yet what he earned from it was dwarfed by what he lost investing in other people's inventions.

Twain was an early champion of which forensic technique, central to the plot of Pudd'nhead Wilson?

Fingerprinting: in the novel's courtroom climax, Wilson uses the fingerprints he has collected for years to unmask the murderer.

Who filmed Twain at his Redding home in 1909, producing the only known footage of him?

Thomas Edison: he filmed Twain at Stormfield, a house Twain named after the story whose earnings had paid for part of it.

Twain lost about $300,000 on which ill-fated invention?

The Paige Compositor: this typesetting machine was overtaken by the Linotype before it could be perfected, and the loss helped drive him into bankruptcy.

Twain's publishing house had a hit with whose memoirs before failing on a biography of Pope Leo XIII?

Ulysses S. Grant's: Grant finished them while dying of throat cancer, and the royalties restored his family's finances after his death.

Which Standard Oil executive rescued Twain's finances after 1893?

Henry Huttleston Rogers: in a twist, Twain introduced him to Ida Tarbell, whose History of the Standard Oil Company exposed his firm.

Twain's 1895-96 round-the-world lecture tour was undertaken to do what?

Pay his creditors in full: bankruptcy meant he was no longer legally obliged to, and the journey became his travel book Following the Equator.

Why was Twain's scheduled lecture in Honolulu cancelled during the world tour?

A cholera epidemic: he was not allowed to land, so he stayed aboard and sailed on to Fiji and Australia.

Which language did Twain mock in a famous essay, before giving a whole speech in it in 1897?

German: in both the essay and the speech he proposed reforms, such as moving the verb up toward the front of the sentence.

Which famous friend discussed who really wrote Shakespeare's plays with Twain during a 1909 visit to his Connecticut home?

Helen Keller: Twain had persuaded a rich friend and his wife to pay for her college education.

In Life on the Mississippi, Twain blamed which novelist's medieval romances for shaping the pre-war South?

Sir Walter Scott: Twain wrote that Scott shaped Southern character so much that he was in great measure responsible for the Civil War.

Twain's daughter Susy died in 1896 of what, beginning his years of depression?

Meningitis: she fell ill while visiting the family's old Hartford home, and the grieving Clemenses never lived there again.

Twain's Angel Fish and Aquarium Club, formed in 1906, was for whom?

Girls he treated as surrogate granddaughters: he traded letters with them and invited them over to visit.

Which university awarded Twain an honorary degree in 1907?

Oxford: at a later dinner, a friend put the red Oxford gown on him as the diners cheered, and Twain said he liked its colour.

Twain predicted he would 'go out' with what, and did so in April 1910?

Halley's Comet: that prediction later inspired the 1985 animated film The Adventures of Mark Twain, in which he flies an airship to meet the comet.

Why is Twain's 12-foot grave monument that height?

Two fathoms, the depth of the pilot's cry: yet Twain himself had written that he hoped to be cremated.

Twain's only co-written novel, The Gilded Age, was written with which Hartford neighbour?

Charles Dudley Warner: 1920s historians borrowed the book's title to name the whole era, the Gilded Age.

Huckleberry Finn was based on which boyhood friend of Twain's?

Tom Blankenship: parents forbade their boys his company, which Twain said only made it worth three or four times more.

Which of his books did Twain say he liked best of all?

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc: he had it serialized anonymously so readers would take it as a serious work, not comedy.

Clara Clemens let her father's Letters from the Earth be published in 1962 partly in response to what?

Soviet propaganda: reports that his ideas were being suppressed annoyed her, though she also said Mark Twain 'belonged to the world'.

How did Twain arrange the autobiography he dictated late in life?

Jumping between topics: his rule was to talk only about whatever interested him at the moment, letting his thoughts wander.

Twain served from 1901 until his death as vice president of which organisation?

The American Anti-Imperialist League: he had once backed American expansion, then turned against empire over the war in the Philippines.

Which author claimed that all modern American literature comes from one Twain book, Huckleberry Finn?

Ernest Hemingway: yet in the same passage he told readers to stop where Jim is taken from the boys, calling the rest just cheating.

In Twain's story The £1,000,000 Bank-Note, why do two rich brothers give a penniless man the note?

To settle a bet: one brother staked £20,000 that a stranger holding only that note could live thirty days and stay out of jail.

In 1906, Twain urged Congress to extend copyright to take care of whom?

Authors' children: he backed the author's life plus 50 years, adding, 'Let the grandchildren take care of themselves.'

A dream of his brother's death led Twain to become an early member of which body?

The Society for Psychical Research: Twain had held back his own 1878 article on telepathy for years, fearing readers would take it as a joke.

Twain's daughter Clara went to Vienna to study piano under whom?

Theodor Leschetizky: yet Clara went on to give concerts as a singer instead.

Which colour of suit became Mark Twain's trademark, once worn to a Congressional hearing in the depths of winter?

White suits became his trademark only late in life: the idea that he wore them all his days is a myth, and he seems to have taken them up in earnest after his wife died in 1904.

Mark Twain joked that newspaper reports of what were an exaggeration, after a cousin's illness confused the press?

His death was thought to be near when a journalist came asking after his health in 1897; it was a cousin who was very ill. The reply is usually misquoted with a 'greatly' he never wrote.

Which relative raises the orphaned Tom Sawyer alongside his half-brother Sid in Mark Twain's novel?

Aunt Polly even follows Tom into the sequel: she arrives at the end of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to unmask the two boys, who have been living under false names.

Which punishment chore does Tom Sawyer trick neighbourhood boys into paying to do for him in Mark Twain's novel?

Whitewashing a fence becomes a privilege once Tom pretends to enjoy it: the others hand over trinkets for a turn, which he later swaps for Sunday-school tickets and a prize Bible.

In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, where do the runaway boys make their surprise return to town?

At their own funeral: presumed drowned after days of hiding out on the river, the three walk into church in the middle of the service and win their classmates' respect for the stunt.

What kind of craft carries Huck and the runaway Jim downriver in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

A raft of pine planks drifts down to them during a flood, followed on a later night by an entire floating house, and it becomes the pair's home for most of the journey.

Which theme park has sailed a paddle steamer called the Mark Twain Riverboat since it opened in 1955?

Disneyland launched the boat early: its maiden voyage was a private party for Walt and Lillian Disney's 30th wedding anniversary, four days before the gates opened to the public.

Which science-fiction franchise had Mark Twain follow time travellers from 1893 San Francisco to the 24th century?

Star Trek: The Next Generation cast Jerry Hardin as the writer in its two-parter Time's Arrow, where he grows suspicious of the visitors and slips through their time portal after them.

In Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, what does Hank Morgan foretell to avoid the stake?

A solar eclipse, remembered from his earlier life, lets Hank pose as a sorcerer who can blot out the sun. Twain may have borrowed the trick from Columbus, who exploited a lunar one.

In Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, the prince who swaps clothes with beggar Tom Canty is which king's son?

Henry VIII dies while the boys are living each other's lives, so the pauper is moments from being crowned when the real Edward bursts in on the coronation.

Which relative kidnaps Huck and locks him in a remote cabin in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

His father, known as Pap, is a violent drunk who wants the boy's share of a treasure. Huck gets away by faking his own murder.

Which villain do Tom Sawyer and Huck watch commit murder in a graveyard at midnight in Mark Twain's novel?

Injun Joe then frames the unconscious Muff Potter by pressing the weapon into his hand, and the terrified boys swear a blood oath to keep quiet until Tom testifies in court.

Which judge's daughter wanders lost for days in a cave with Tom Sawyer in Mark Twain's novel?

Becky Thatcher was drawn from life: Twain based her on Laura Hawkins, a real friend from his own boyhood.

In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, who legally owns Jim before he flees to Jackson's Island?

Miss Watson was planning to sell him, which is why he ran after overhearing her. By the novel's end she has died and freed him in her will.

Which name did Mark Twain give his final home, borrowed from the captain in his tale of a visit to heaven?

Stormfield was his third name for the villa, after Autobiography House and Innocence at Home: summer storms on the hilltop suggested it, and money from the Captain Stormfield story had built one wing.

Which game had its own top-floor room in Mark Twain's Hartford house, where he also wrote late at night?

Billiards shared the top floor with his writing desk, and the room was his favourite retreat, where callers were shown up to see him. A billiard table is still among the house's furnishings.

Which young British writer turned up unannounced at Mark Twain's door in 1889 for a two-hour talk about books?

Rudyard Kipling came away deeply impressed, and Twain liked him too, joking later that between them they covered all knowledge: Kipling everything that could be known, and he the rest.

Which Canadian rock trio opened their 1981 album Moving Pictures with a song named after Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer?

Rush wrote it with lyricist Pye Dubois, whose original words drummer Neil Peart described as a portrait of a modern-day rebel.

Which stand-up comedian was the first to receive the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor?

Richard Pryor took the inaugural prize in 1998. The profanity at his ceremony so displeased one later honouree that he twice turned the award down.

Which Massachusetts town's public library banned Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as coarse trash in 1885?

Concord's library committee judged the novel more suited to the slums than to respectable people, and Little Women author Louisa May Alcott joined in the criticism.

Which Illinois town, their gateway to the free states, do Huck and Jim drift past by mistake in Mark Twain's novel?

Cairo was the whole point of the voyage: from there the two meant to travel on to freedom. They slip past it after being separated in a fog.

Which Mark Twain book retells his stagecoach journey west with his brother and his years among prospectors?

Roughing It covers his years in the American West from 1861 to 1867, taking in Salt Lake City, a spell of real-estate speculation and his first steps as a writer.

Which unfinished Mark Twain tale, published after his death, sends Satan's sinless nephew to an Austrian village?

The Mysterious Stranger survives in several drafts, and the first printed text was a patchwork: his literary executor took an ending from another version and wrote over the original names.

In Mark Twain's sequel Tom Sawyer Abroad, how do Tom, Huck and Jim end up crossing the ocean to Africa?

By hot-air balloon: the three stow away by accident on a professor's futuristic airship, in a parody of adventure stories like those of Jules Verne.

Why did the first volume of Mark Twain's complete autobiography not reach bookshops until 2010?

He wanted a 100-year wait so that he could speak with his whole frank mind, although he serialised selected chapters himself and planned staged releases 25 years apart.

Which Western writer, famous for The Luck of Roaring Camp, went from Mark Twain's friend to bitter enemy?

Bret Harte had Twain as a friend and supporter until a substantial falling out, after which Twain called him insincere and tried to block his appointment to a government post.

Which actor performed the one-man stage show Mark Twain Tonight for more than six decades, winning a Tony Award?

Hal Holbrook grew the act out of a college honours project, first staged it in 1954 and then performed it every year from 1959 to 2017, varying the material from show to show.

Which English novelist's public reading in New York was Mark Twain's first date with his future wife, Olivia?

Charles Dickens was the evening's draw, soon after the couple met in December 1867. Twain later claimed he had already fallen for Olivia from her photograph alone.

In which Italian city did Mark Twain's wife, Olivia, die in 1904 while the family rented a villa there?

Florence was chosen on doctors' advice for its warm climate, but Olivia died there of heart failure in June 1904, only months after the family arrived.

Which daughter of Mark Twain, the youngest, was found dead at his home on the morning of Christmas Eve 1909?

Jean had lived with epilepsy since her teens and had just decorated the house for the holiday. Twain outlived her by only four months.

In which New York city did Mark Twain buy a stake in the Express newspaper and set up his first married home?

Buffalo did not hold them long: Twain later called their stay there sorrowful and brief, and in 1871 the couple sold the house and moved on, settling in Hartford that autumn.

Which American designer, famed for stained glass, supervised the redecoration of Mark Twain's Hartford house in 1881?

Louis Comfort Tiffany's firm decorated the interiors in 1881, and restorers have since re-stencilled the walls and ceilings to recover his scheme.

In Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, which missing royal object finally proves who the true king is?

The Great Seal of England was hidden by Edward just before he was thrown out of the palace, so only he can produce it; the pauper had been asked about it repeatedly and knew nothing.

What disguise does Huck wear into town to gather news in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

A girl's dress gets him through the door of Judith Loftus, who lets slip that there is a reward out for Jim, now suspected of the very murder Huck staged.

In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one con man poses as a duke; what does his partner claim to be?

France's lost Dauphin would have been long dead by then, and Huck and Jim quickly see through both frauds, but they pretend to believe the pair to avoid a quarrel.

In Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, how does the enslaved Roxy try to give her infant son a life of freedom?

Roxy switches two babies in their cribs, her own and her master's lookalike son, so her child grows up as the privileged heir while the true heir is raised in slavery.

Mark Twain's pamphlet King Leopold's Soliloquy attacked a European king's brutal rule over which part of Africa?

The Congo Free State was Leopold II's own domain, and the satire lets him rant in his own defence. Its publisher gave all surplus proceeds to relief for victims of the atrocities.

Which Saturday Evening Post cover artist illustrated editions of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn?

Norman Rockwell was commissioned to illustrate more than 40 books, these two among them, alongside nearly five decades of magazine covers showing everyday American life.

Which fraternal order did Mark Twain join in St. Louis in 1861, rising through three degrees in under two months?

The Freemasons of Polar Star Lodge No. 79 made him an Entered Apprentice on 22 May 1861, and he was raised to Master Mason on 10 July of the same year.

In Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, whose tower does Hank Morgan destroy with a lightning rod?

Merlin is challenged to save the tower by sorcery while Hank secretly packs it with gunpowder and wires the charges to the rod, so the next lightning strike levels it.

Which Declaration of Independence signer co-hosts Epcot's The American Adventure with an animatronic Mark Twain?

Benjamin Franklin and Twain host the show together as audio-animatronic figures, even though Franklin died 45 years before Twain was born.

Which family is locked in a 30-year blood feud with the Grangerfords in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

The Shepherdsons kill every Grangerford man in an ambush after a daughter of one house elopes with a boy from the other.

Which religious leader did Mark Twain call grasping and despotic in his 1907 book on the faith she founded?

Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, angered him by seeming to use it to gain wealth and power, yet biographers call him ambivalent about the faith itself: mental healing interested him.

Which country star wrote the songs for Big River, the Tony-winning Broadway musical of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn?

Roger Miller wrote both music and lyrics in bluegrass and country styles to suit the setting, and the show took the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score.

At the close of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where does Huck vow to flee to avoid being adopted?

Indian Territory is his answer to the Phelpses' plan to adopt him, announced soon after he learns that Jim had been freed in a will some time before.

Which California university's Bancroft Library houses the Mark Twain Papers and edited his full autobiography?

UC Berkeley's Mark Twain Project, based in the library, compiled and edited the comprehensive three-volume edition that came out between 2010 and 2015.

Which Atlantic Monthly editor, author of The Rise of Silas Lapham, was Mark Twain's close friend for four decades?

William Dean Howells was, Twain wrote in 1906, without a peer in the English-writing world. Howells answered with a book of reminiscences, My Mark Twain.

Which two-time Best Actor Oscar winner played the title role in the 1944 biopic The Adventures of Mark Twain?

Fredric March starred opposite Alexis Smith as Olivia, and the film earned three Academy Award nominations, including one for Max Steiner's score.

Mark Twain's own publishing house, founded in 1884, took its name from which in-law he made business director?

Charles L. Webster, the husband of Twain's niece, ran the firm until 1888, when he left it in broken health and at odds with Twain, who had come to think him incompetent.

In Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, which soldier home from war becomes the ragged prince's protector?

Miles Hendon never believes the boy's claim to royalty but humours him anyway, and is rewarded with an earldom and the family right to sit in the king's presence.