In this modern age we take for granted the common knowledge that many of the fruits and vegetables grown in our gardens contain vitamins and minerals that are essential to our good health. As a result, we rarely consider that there was a time when such knowledge didn't exist. And that men and women had to struggle mightily to pull back the veil of ignorance that hides the truth from our eyes.
Today is the birthday of a man born in 1858, who found a direct connection between a vitamin deficiency and a disease. In doing so, he liberated humanity from the suffering caused by an ailment that most people have never heard of today, Beriberi. And he was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1929 for his achievement. So let's raise a glass to Christiaan Eijkman, whose discover of vitamin B1(Thiamine) has earned him a prominent place in medical history.
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