So there was once a businessman named Gavino Gutierrez from New York who went on a quest for wild guava trees. As it turned out, Gutierrez’s quest lead to the vital growth and development of Tampa for being a ‘motherland’ of guava trees. In the 1970s, the long-time newspaper columnist for the Tampa Tribune and Tampa Times, Steve Otto coined us as ‘The Big Guava’ as a reference to New York’s “Big Apple”, thanks to Gutierrez, and it stuck.

Here are 15 more facts about Tampa that you might now know..

1. The name Tampa is believed to come from the phrase “Sticks of Fire.” Due to the Tampa Bay having some of the most notorious lightning storms around, I wonder where the Tampa Bay Lighting got their name from..
2. We have a terrible pirate problem. It seems like no matter what we do, we get invaded by pirates every year! (Just kidding, we love it.)
3. The movie industry love us! Tampa has played a part in quite a number of films including, but not limited to; “Blood Sport”, “Cocoon”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Lethal Weapon III”, “My Girl”, “Parent Trap II”, “Once Upon A Time In America”, “Oceans 11”, and “Infiltrator” were all  filmed in the Bay Area.
4. Babe Ruth hit his longest home run during a game in Tampa, clocking a total of 587 feet.
5. The world’s first scheduled passenger flight flew from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914 – It took 40 minutes and the tickets costed $5!
6. The iconic Tampa restaurant Bern's Steak House has the largest working wine cellar in the world.
7. In 1851 John Gorrie invented the first mechanical refrigeration system in Tampa.
8. Did you know the Cuban sandwich isn’t Cuban? It is believed that it was likely invented in Tampa. (Those from Miami might disagree)
9. Florida Brewing Company, the first brewery in Florida, originated in Tampa.
10. Cigar City – Ybor, inside of Tampa, was considered the Cigar Capital of the World!
11. Snow – Tampa is home to the smallest official park in the world “Snow Park” (according to Riley’s Believe It or Not!)
12. Tampa’s number one export? Phosphate.
13. When Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were waiting to ship out for the Spanish-American War in 1898, they were stationed in Tampa.
14. Tampa is home to the world’s longest continuous sidewalk, Bayshore Boulevard. It’s 4.5 miles long!
15. During Prohibition, Tampa was one of the top sellers of illegal liquor in the country.