The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, published in 1867, contained 27 previously released pieces written during Twain's years as a newspaper writer in Nevada and California.

Prior to adopting Mark Twain as his pen name, Clemens wrote under the pseudonym Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass for three humorous pieces he contributed to the Keokuk Post.

Tom neglected to tell Huck and Jim that Jim was already a free man. Old Miss Watson had died two months previously and, ashamed that she had ever intended to sell Jim, set him free in her will.

Twain named Tom after a San Francisco fireman whom he met in June 1863. The real Tom Sawyer was a local hero, famous for rescuing 90 passengers after a shipwreck. The two remained friendly during Twain's three-year stay in San Francisco, often drinking and gambling together.

In 1907, Oxford University awarded Mark Twain the highest scholastic honorary degree--an honorary doctorate in letters.

Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon in 1870. The couple remained married until Olivia died in 1904, and the sadness inherent in Twain's letters written after 1904 is often attributed to his depression over her death.

In his later years, Mark Twain formed a sort of club for the daughters of several friends. He would entertain the Angelfish Club with stories and became a grandfather figure to the group.

Twain received his first patent (#121,992) for the garment fastener on December 19, 1871. Although Twain's strap never really caught on in the vest or pantaloon market, it became standard for brassieres and is still used today.

In 1839, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. Decades later, he would set his popular novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a fictionalized version of Hannibal.