Faraday-type rotating wire "motor", 2000

Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, Netherlands. Rotating wire motor, in the manner of Faraday 1825-50. Mercury is placed in the shallow dish, at the center of which is fixed a permanent magnet. Electric current, such as from a voltaic pile, is passed through the wire and into the mercury. The moving current creates a magnetic field around the wire. Its interaction with the permanent magnet causes the wire to rotate. This is generally accepted as the predecessor of electric motors.