On May 20 in 1747, British ship's surgeon James Lind begins an experiment on HMS Salisbury in which he strictly controlled the diets of 12 sailors with scurvy; those receiving lemons and oranges showed "sudden and visible good effects." The study is now a classic; it produced a cure for the disease that had killed millions, led to reforms in naval health practices, and shaped the fates of nations.
—from The Illustrated Almanac of Science, Technology, and Invention