In World War II, the British Royal Air Force ran a propaganda campaign to prevent the Germans from finding out that British aircraft were equipped with radar. They published a story about John "Cats' Eyes" Cunningham, the RAF's top-scoring night fighter pilot. This story stated that John had gained incredible night vision from eating lots of carrots, when in reality he had radar to thank. (John Cunningham was first person to shoot down an enemy plane with the help of radar.)
The British populace believed in this story so strongly that carrots became a much larger part of the nation's diet. This practice continues to today, as many people encourage eating carrots to improve eyesight. Carrots do contain beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. (Vitamin A is an important nutrient for eye health.) However, extra vitamin A doesn't doesn't improve vision; only a deficiency will have a noticeable effect. In fact, an excessive amount of Vitamin A can be poisonous.
It is still important to make sure you get the small amount of vitamin A that your body needs to promote eye health. This will prevent things like cataracts, macular degeneration, and xerophthalmia, but it will not make you see better if you already have good vision. Vitamin A can be found in all kinds of things, such as milk, cheese, egg yolk, and liver, so there is nothing special about carrots specifically in this regard.
The Germans also fell for this ruse, because the belief that carrots had special properties was already part of German folklore. Since the Middle Ages, carrots were regarded as miracle vegetables, and were used to cure anything from snakebites to STDs.
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