During the 16th and 17th centuries, scurvy was common among sailors and caused many deaths. In 1747, Scottish physician James Lind conducted an experiment demonstrating that citrus fruits could cure scurvy. He provided sailors with different diets, including one with citrus fruits, and found that those consuming lemons and oranges recovered quickly.
In 1928, Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi isolated vitamin C and confirmed it as the key substance for preventing scurvy, in part earning him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.
