Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He adopted the pen name 'Mark Twain' from Mississippi River steamboat terminology, where it meant a depth of two fathoms (12 feet), indicating safe navigable water.

Yes, Twain trained as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, receiving his pilot's license in 1859. This experience directly inspired his memoir 'Life on the Mississippi' (1883) and provided the setting for the raft journeys in 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'

Twain was born in 1835, exactly two weeks after Halley's Comet made its closest approach that year. He famously predicted he would 'go out with it' as well, and he died in April 1910, the day after the comet's next perihelion.

Yes, the novel was banned by some libraries upon its 1884 publication for what critics considered coarse language and improper behavior. It remains one of the most frequently challenged books in American libraries, largely due to its racial language, though scholars widely regard it as a profound critique of slavery and racism.