Ok I got distracted: old-timey European sailors infamously had a lot of problems with scurvy, which is vitamin C deficiency. I'm pretty sure everyone's heard about that.
I had not heard that at one point when old-timey Japan wanted to have a big powerful navy and mayhaps take ownership of some of mainland Asia... they were getting their asses kicked by beriberi, vitamin B1 deficiency. Actually it was so bad it kicked Edo's ass too, because rich city-slickers loved the caché of white rice.
Everyone say "thank you Kanehiro Takaki" for figuring out that sailors had to eat something besides white rice, or perhaps more accurately, being the guy willing to consider this and do some science about it instead of just going LA LA LA IT MUST BE A PATHOGEN for 40 years.
