Mark Twain: 10 reasons we love him

For Twain's 176th's birthday, ten reasons the world is still fascinated by the Missouri native.

4. He was America's first rock star.

Barber and Howe
A steamship on the Mississippi

While still a young man, Twain made 120 steamship trips on the Mississippi, enjoyed a wild interlude in Nevada and California (in part to avoid fighting in the Civil War), traveled abroad, and gained a national reputation as a humorist. On the strength of these experiences he became an almost overnight sensation as a lecturer.

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