- The early experiments with electrostatic motors by Andrew Gordon and Benjamin Franklin in the 1740s, which were based on Coulomb’s law of electrostatic force1.
- The discovery of electromagnetism by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1820, when he observed that an electric current creates a magnetic field that can deflect a compass needle2.
- The invention of the solenoid by André-Marie Ampère in 1820, which is a coil of wire that produces a magnetic field when an electric current flows through it2.
- The demonstration of continuous electromagnetic rotation by Michael Faraday in 1821, when he suspended a wire in a magnetic field and made it rotate by passing an electric current through it23.
- The development of Barlow’s wheel by Peter Barlow in 1822, which was the first device powered by electromagnetism and consisted of a copper disk that rotated between the poles of a horseshoe magnet24.
- The invention of the first commutated rotary electromechanical machine with electromagnets by Ányos Jedlik in 1828, which was the precursor of the modern DC motor and used a commutator to switch the direction of the current in the coil25.
- The construction of an electric motor according to the plans of Andreas von Baumgartner by Johann Michael Ekling before 1830, which was one of the earliest examples of an electric motor in Austria.
- The discovery and investigation of induction law by Faraday in 1831, which stated that an electric current is induced in a conductor when it moves through a varying magnetic field2 .
- The creation of a mechanical rocker by Joseph Henry in 1831, which was a simple device that used electromagnetism to produce motion2 .
- The invention of the electromagnet by William Sturgeon in 1825, and his construction of the first commutated rotating electric machine that was demonstrated in London in 1833, which used soft iron cores to increase the magnetic force2 .
- The invention of the first AC generating apparatus by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832, and his improvement of an oscillating DC generator in 1833, which used a spinning magnet to induce alternating currents in two coils2 .
- The formulation of the law of reversibility of generators and motors by Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz in 1833, which stated that the direction of induced current is always such that it opposes the change that caused it2 .
- The building of a 15 watt motor by Moritz von Jacobi in 1834, which was submitted to the Academy of Sciences in Paris and published in 1835, and his demonstration of the first use of an electric motor to propel a boat with 14 passengers across a river in 1839, which was the first real useful rotary electrical motor2 .
- The patenting of the first DC electric motor by Thomas Davenport and Emily Davenport in 1837, which was a partial adaptation from Sturgeon’s motor and used batteries as a power source2 .