Florence Nightingale is best known for leading a group of 38 nurses to care for British soldiers wounded in the Crimean War in 1854. When Nightingale and her nurses arrived at the military hospital in Scutari, Turkey they were shocked at the terrible conditions with a lack of medicines, low hygiene standards, and mass infections common.  They immediately started to clean every room and Nightingale told her nurses to wash their hands often. Nightingale's focus on cleaning and washing hands helped improved conditions and, thanks to her, we now know it is one of the best ways to stop the spread of disease.