Word of The Week

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." 

- Mark Twain

Credit: Matthew Brandy,
"The United States Library of Congress" 

Mark Twain, also known originally as Samuel Langhorne Clemen, was born on November 30th, 1835 in Hannibal, Missouri. He is better known for his works Huckle The Adventures of Berry Fin and Adventures of Tom Swayer.  Twain was 11 when his father died of a pneumonia. He left Missouri to work for print in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.  In 1867, a local paper sponsored Twain on a trip to the Mediterranean.  He was a self-educator and joined the International Typographical Union. Twain lived in San Francisco as a journalist.  In 1869, he wrote about his travels as featured in the compiled works The Innocent Abroad.

In 1867, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean.  During his tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular collection of travel letters, which were later compiled as The Innocents Abroad in 1869. It was on this trip that he met his future brother-in-law, Charles Langdon on his venture to the Holy Land, and soon was introduced to his wife Olivia Langdon. He proposed to Olivia but didn't get engaged to her until 1868. They later moved to Buffalo New York and were together for 34 years until Olivia passed in 1904. Twain owned the stock of The Buffalo Express Newspaper and operated as Chief Editor and writer.  Twain was later honored with membership in the Secret Society Scroll and Key of Yale University in 1868. Twain moved to Hartford Connecticut where he created other works of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer, including Life on the Mississippi and Prince and the Pauper.