Saturday 25th February 1837
Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, Vermont, US, received a patent for an “Electric Motor” (“Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism and Electro-Magnetism”) – the first commercially successful direct current electric motor. Operated by battery power, the motor consisted of a wheel, two spokes of which were electromagnets, situated between two stationary electromagnets. When current was applied to the stationary magnets and through a commutator switch to the wheel magnets, the wheel rotated.