Industrialist and cigar manufacturer Vicente Martinez Ybor died in Tampa on this date. Born in Valencia Spain on September 7, 1818, Ybor moved to Cuba in 1832 and by 1856 had founded his own cigar manufacturing business there. During the Ten Year’s War in Cuba, Ybor moved to Key West to continue his cigar operations. By 1885 Ybor again moved his operations, this time to Tampa on Florida’s west coast. After receiving a subsidy from Tampa’s Board of Trade, he and his business partners began work on a company town that would become known as Ybor City. Ybor is credited with helping to jump start Tampa’s enormous growth by encouraging his immigrant workers to settle in the area and his operation grew tremendously as a result. His legacy lives on with the historic site of his company town still bearing the name “Ybor City.”