Mark Twain Trivia

1. The celebrated American humorist and writer Mark Twain published his first work, a short story, in "The New York Saturday Press" in 1865. Would you care to leap to a conclusion as to which work this was?

From Quiz Mark's Twangs

Answer: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" had first been known as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and later became "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Mark Twain, who was born Samuel Langhorn Clemens in Florida, Missouri, based this short story on a tale that he had heard while he was in Angel's Camp, California. Later he discovered that the story had origins in an old Greek tale.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: a steamboat pilot

Clemens wrote about his days on the river in "Life on the Mississippi". As to being a steamboat pilot, he wrote "I have loved that profession more than any I have followed since"

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: Langhorne

Samuel Clemens' middle name was Langhorne. Mark Twain, as most people know, was his pen name. Popular belief is that his pen name came from marking off the depth of two fathoms, the mark of safe water, when navigating on the Mississippi River. Another belief is that in his wilder days he would have the bartender keep his drinking tab by saying "mark twain," which literally meant "mark two (twain is an archaic term for "two"). Langdon was the maiden name of his wife, Olivia.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: Langhorne

The world remembers him as Mark Twain, but he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens. When Clemens was training to be a riverboat pilot, he had to know safe channels on the Mississippi River. A rope knotted every six feet was lowered into the water when sounding the river shallows. The call "by the mark, twain" meant that the water was two fathoms, twelve feet deep, safe water for a riverboat.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: Hank Morgan

This book contains many of Clemens views on democracy vs monarchy and religion/superstition vs practicality/reality. There have been several movie versions, but none have done the book justice.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: Charles Dudley Warner

"The Gilded Age" is a look at the hypocrisy of the "nuevo riche" and politics of the late 19th century. By the time the two authors finished they were no longer speaking to each other due to personal conflicts.

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: Sandwich Islands

As a young man he traveled to the Sandwich Islands, now known as the islands of Hawaii. As he arrived on the beach, he came across several native maidens who were swimming and had left their clothing on the beach. He made sure their clothes would not be stolen by sitting on them.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

This short story was wildly successful and established "Mark Twain" as a writer/humorist/celebrity. "The Innocents Abroad" was Clemens first full length book.

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: Olivia & Livy

Clemens first discovered his future wife as a result of looking at a photo of a friend's sister. Smitten, Clemens pursued Olivia, but her family thought he was a scoundrel. It took Twain two years before he could convince Olivia's father of his serious intent. He had to produce friends who would speak well of him. He had a difficult time finding friends who would. They also thought him a bit of a scalawag.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: His brother died as a result of a riverboat explosion.

Henry Clemens died as a result of having his lungs scorched when the boiler blew up on the riverboat, Pennsylvania. Samuel Clemens had also been working on the Pennsylvania but had left the boat in New Orleans, after quarreling with the pilot. One of the most famous recorded premonitions is that of Samuel Clemens's vivid dream of Henry's death. Clemens saw Henry's body lying in state in a tin coffin that rested between two chairs. A bouquet of white flowers, with a single red flower in the center, was on his chest. The dream was so real that Clemens woke up, dressed, and went outside, before realizing that he had been dreaming. After Henry's death, Clemens was standing beside the body, which was in a tin coffin that rested between two chairs, when an unknown lady walked over and laid a bouquet of white flowers, with one red flower in the center, on Henry's chest. All the other Pennsylvania victims were buried in wooden coffins, but the women of Memphis, Tennessee, were so moved by Henry's youth, they had provided a tin coffin for his burial. This account of Clemens's dream is from the Reader's Digest book "Mysteries of the Unexplained".

From Quiz Mark's Twangs

Answer: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

In the "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", Tom, Huck and their friend, Joe, decided to engage in a little imaginary "pirating", and disappeared for a time from their families and friends. Upon hearing a cannon booming from a ferryboat as it echoed like thunder across the water, the boys realized that the ferry was engaged in trying to cause the bodies of the drowned victims to surface. When they realized that the "victims" were themselves, sober thoughts about the sadness left to their loved ones soon overshadowed their glee as "heroes" as they imagined what woe their absences were causing. Later, the boys were able to hear the eulogies offered at their "funerals" as they had snuck into the church and remained hidden throughout most of the services. To the astonishment of the assembled congregation, the three boys then came marching up the aisle!

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: It is a river term indicating "two fathoms"

The term comes from taking depth soundings with a knotted rope. "Mark twain" meant two fathoms, twelve feet, of depth. This was deep enough to be safe for a flat bottomed river boat.

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: 11

Clemens led the life of Huckleberry Finn prior to his father's death. After that he had to help support the family. He became a printer's apprentice, and left home, traveling abroad learning the trade. His love of the written word came from having to set words up in the printer's type. He also rounded out his education by studying books in public libraries, perhaps receiving a better education than had he stayed in school.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: 1863

Samuel and Orion Clemens headed for Nevada in 1861. Orion had been offered the position of secretary of the new territory, and Samuel wanted to try his luck at silver mining. When mining did not pan out, Clemens became a newspaper reporter. His first article under the pen name Mark Twain was published in the Nevada "Territorial Enterprise" on Feb. 3, 1863. In 1864, Clemens left Nevada and headed for the California goldfields.

From Quiz Mark's Twangs

Answer: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Originally entitled "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court", the book "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" was first published in 1889. In this tale by Mark Twain, an engineer named Hank Morgan suffered a blow to the head, and upon awakening found himself in Arthurian England, about 13 centuries prior to his time. He was able to persuade the citizenry of that era that he was a magician of sorts, solving all sorts of problems for them and even going so far as to accurately "predict" a solar eclipse. This book by Twain is a satirical look at modern society, as well as making light of the "chivalrous attitudes" in England during the Middle Ages. This satire, as found in many of his other works, helped to distinguish Mark Twain's work and enhanced his reputation as a humorist.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: Halley's Comet appeared in the sky

"I came in in 1835 with Halley's Comet. It's coming again pretty soon and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I do not go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt, "Here are these two indefinable freaks; they came in together. They must go out together". (The Autobiography of Mark Twain)

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass

Clemens used "Snodgrass" as an earlier pen name; however, "Josh" is the pen name that got him noticed by the publisher of the Virginia Territorial Enterprise and subsequently Clemens began writing for the Enterprise. (Thanks Michael for the heads up). Jim Smiley was a character in the famous Twain story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: One

Clemens visited Hawaii (then called the Sandwich Islands) in 1866. As a reporter for the San Fransisco newspaper "Alta California", he took a cruise to Europe, Turkey, and Egypt, in 1867 aboard the "Quaker City". During the cruise, Clemens became friends with a young man from a wealthy family from Elmira, New York, named Charles Langdon. After the trip, Clemens was invited to meet Langdon's family, and he fell in love with Charles's sister, Olivia (Livy) Langdon. The couple were married in February, 1870, and they were happily married until her death in 1904.

From Quiz Mark's Twangs

Answer: King Edward VI

"The Prince and the Pauper" by Mark Twain is a fictional tale of two young boys who looked identical, even though they were not related to each other. One, the son of an abusive, poverty-stricken father, and the other, the heir to the throne of England, decided to switch places in life. The ensuing adventures, calamities, and surprising side effects of their ruse are presented throughout the story which focused on the disparity between the attitudes of the rich versus the poor. As a social commentary, the story pointed out the vast differences between the social classes in Tudor England. The character of the prince was based on the boy who was the actual prince of Wales who became Edward VI in 1547. Edward was crowned king at the age of 9, but died at the age of 15, leaving the throne to his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. She, in turn, was deposed 13 days later by Mary I (Bloody Mary), the sister of Edward VI.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: Telephone

Clemens had one of the first telephones in use in Hartford. He wrote a comic piece titled "A Telephonic Conversation" which is probably the first piece of literature written about how odd only one side of a phone call sounds. This comic tradition continued to be used by many comedians of the 20th Century, including George Carlin and Bob Newhart.

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: Missouri

Clemens was born in Florida--Florida, Missouri. His father moved the family to Hannibal, and Clemens grew up in that town, basing many of the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn on his childhood spent there.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The first novel that Clemens wrote alone was "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876). He had collaborated with Charles Dudley Warner on "The Gilded Age" in 1873. Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) was the much respected editor of the "Hartford Courtier" newspaper and a friend and neighbor of Samuel Clemens in the exclusive Nook Farm neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut. "Innocents Abroad", a travel book based on Clemens's experiences during 1866 and 1867, was first published in 1869. During his lifetime, "Innocents Abroad" was the most popular of his books.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: McWilliams

These stories include "The McWilliams and the Lightning Rod Salesman" and "The McWilliams and the Membranous Croup" The stories are told from the point of view of the head of the household, who happens to be an author. Clemens tried to keep his private life separate from that of Mark Twain, his public persona, but these stories give a glimpse of the daily life of the Clemens family.

From Quiz The TAO of Mark Twain

Answer: Scientists have odious manners, except when you prop up their theory; then you can borrow money of them.

Marie Curie made the comment about sadistic scientists; Dave Barry enlightened us regarding mammary function; and Terry Pratchett reminded us of a type of gullibility not unique to scientists.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: Elmira, New York

He was living on his last estate named "Stormfield" in honor of a story of an old riverboat captain, "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven". During his life, Clemens lived in Missouri, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., New York, Connecticut, Italy, Germany, and England.

From Quiz A Life of Twain

Answer: South

Growing up in the South, Clemens naturally joined the Confederacy when it came to choosing sides. He and some friends formed a unit of fourteen friends, the Marion Rangers, which never saw any fighting, and in fact disbanded after two weeks. It's thought the prompt to disband came when they heard Grant was heading their way. Some later joined a Confederate unit, but Clemens went to Nevada with his brother and tried his hand at mining. So, technically Clemens never fought for the South, though he did initially join up to fight with them. Later, he would oppose slavery, which drew heat from Southerners.

From Quiz Life and Works of Sam Clemens

Answer: It is awful slavery for a lazy man.

Clemens had to force himself to write daily. In Hartford, he had a writing area away from the house. Late in life, he wrote in bed. His "Autobiography" was mostly dictated to Albert Bigalow Paine. "The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair" is how the historian Stephen Ambrose described writing.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: He heavily financed an automated typesetting machine that did not work.

By 1891, Clemens was in such financial straits that he closed his mansion in Nook Farm and moved his family to Europe, and he went bankrupt in 1894. One of his major financial losses was the $200,000.00 that he poured into the Paige Typesetting Machine. He finally abandoned the machine after it failed during a test run. Another factor was the heavy losses sustained by Charles L. Webster & Company, the publication firm started by Clemens. In 1895, Clemens undertook a world reading tour which was so successful that Clemens paid his debts off dollar for dollar with the proceeds.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: Oxford

Samuel Clemens was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature by Oxford University in 1907. Of all the honors given Clemens, this was the one that he was most proud of.

From Quiz The Life of Samuel Clemens

Answer: One

Samuel and Livy Clemens had four children. Langdon Clemens, their eldest child and only son, died as an infant in 1872. Suzy Clemens died of spinal meningitis, which she contracted on a visit to the United States, in 1896. Jean Clemens, who suffered from epilepsy, drowned in her bath during a seizure on Christmas Eve, 1909. At the time of his death, only Clemens's daughter Clara, who had married and moved to Europe, was still living. His wife, Livy Clemens, passed away in Florence, Italy, in 1904.

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