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:

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin’s Crystalline Chemistry, Part 1
38:04

SYMHC Classics: Sarah Bradlee Fulton
32:28

Behind the Scenes Minis: Stairs and Trains
29:25