People started adding iodine to salt because in some parts of the world serious, chronic iodine deficiency was incredibly widespread, which was causing a range of health issues. But how was that solution arrived at?
Research:

SYMHC Classics: Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor
29:58

Behind the Scenes Minis: Carry-on Bags
28:38

Gustave Flaubert and the ‘Madame Bovary’ Trial
45:15