In 1908, the Italian Antonio Grossich invented tincture of iodine, which would save hundreds of thousands of lives in World War I. But since the Libyan War (1911-12), the Italian armed forces had already been experimenting with it on a large scale. Made from purified water, ethanol, iodine, and potassium iodide, it was, unlike carbolic acid, completely tolerable on the skin, despite possessing extremely powerful antibacterial properties. The Kingdom of Italy appointed the scientist Commander of the Crown of Italy. Tincture of iodine and the subsequent Dakin-Carrel solution both possessed powerful antiseptic properties and, at the beginning of the last century, represented a momentous advance in the fight against microorganisms and thus infections. Grossich would later become an Italian irredentist and participate in the capture of Fiume.
