History of the Motor
| 1824 | France | Arago | Arago discovered that a rotating copper plate affects a magnet needle. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1831 | England | Faraday | Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction. |
| America | Henry | Henry published a research paper on the original model of today's motors. | |
| 1833 | England | Richie | Richie created the electromagnet motor. |
| 1834 | Russia | Jacobi | Jacobi created the commutator motor. |
| 1836 | America | Davenport | Davenport created the DC motor. |
| 1838 | England | Davidson | Davidson created the DC motor. |
| 1860 | Italy | Pacinottoi | Pacinottoi invented the ring armature. |
| 1864 | England | Maxwell | Maxwell established electromagnetic field theory, and foretold the existence of electromagnetic waves. |
| 1866 | Germany | Siemens | Siemens created the self-exciting generator. |
| 1867 | England and Germany | Siemens brothers | The Siemens brothers developed the modernistic generator. |
| Belgium | Gramme | Gramme created the AC generator. | |
| 1879 | America | Edison | Edison developed the high-efficiency DC generator as a power supply for incandescent lights. |
| 1882 | Yugoslavia | Tesla | Tesla discovered the principle of two-phase AC motors to replace DC motors that shoot sparks when rotating. |
| 1885 | England | Fleming | Fleming discovered the right-hand rule (generator) and then theorized the left-hand rule (motor). |
| 1888 | America | Tesla | Tesla created the single-phase motor. |
| 1889 | Germany | Dobrowolski | Dobrowolski created the three-phase squirrel-cage type induction machine. |
| 1893 | America | Steinmetz | Steinmetz's work at GE contributed to the study of magnetic hysteresis in motors. |
| 1905 | Switzerland | Einstein | Einstein published the special relativity theory. |
| 1910 | England | Poynting | Poynting theorized the electromagnetic energy current. |
| 1918 | England | Livens | Livens presented the general expression for magnetic force including the principle of hysteresis motors. |
| 1919 | England | Walker | Walker invented the inductor for the VR stepping motor. |
| 1932 | Japan | Sanyo Shokai (now Sanyo Denki Co., Ltd.) |
Sanyo launched production of generators for wireless communication devices. |
| 1937 | America | Teare | Teare contributed to the development and theorization of hysteresis motors. |
| 1940 | America | Kron | Kron advocated the tensor theory for rotary machines when working at GE. |
| America | Feiertag | When working at GE, Feiertag invented the slow-synchronous motor that was developed into the principle behind the hybrid stepping motor. | |
| 1945 | Japan | Sanyo Denki | Sanyo began converting military devices and rotary machines used to supply power for communication equipment into commercial products. |
| 1950 | Japan | Oriental Motor | The company was established as "Toyo-Dendoki Co., Ltd." Then it changed its name to its current one three years later. |
| 1952 | Japan | Electric Laboratory | Electric Laboratory requested Sanyo Denki to develop Japan's first two-phase servo motor. |
| 1960 | Japan | Fujitsu | Fujitsu released a series of VR stepping motors for machine tools. |
| Japan | Sanyo Denki | Sanyo developed VR stepping motors | |
| Japan | Japan Servo (currently Nidec Servo Corporation) |
Established as the successor of Kiryu Eikosha Co., Ltd. | |
| 1962 | Japan | Shinano Kenshi Boseki (currently Shinano Kenshi) |
In order to switch from producing spinning machinery, the company decided to manufacture small motors for TEAC. The company then started to deliver their motors to Sony. |
| 1965 | Germany | The emergence of the brushless motor was a highly influential development for workers in the small-motor industry in Japan, which was in an early developmental stage. | |
| 1966 | America | Spaceships and soft landing on the moon: The stepping motor designed by Mr. Katsumi Egawa was used in the lunar surface image loading device. | |
| 1968 | Japan | Sanyo Denki | Launch of commercial production of the hybrid stepping motor. |
| 1970 | Japan | Sanyo Denki | The company received an order for stepping motors from IBM. This was an epoch-making event for precision motors used in information-processing equipment. |
| 1972 | America | Kuo: Symposium on Incremental Motion Control Systems and Devices was started. | |
| 1973 | Japan | Shigenobu Nagamori | Mr. Nagamori founded Nidec Corporation. |
| 1978 | Japan | Nidec | The company made a full-scale entry into the fan business. |
| 1979 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 8-inch HDDs. |
| 1980 | Japan | Sashida | Mr. Sashida invented the wedge type ultrasonic motor. |
| 1981 | Japan | Kenjo/JMA | Mr. Kenjo started Motortech Japan Symposium. |
| Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 5.25-inch HDDs. | |
| 1982 | Japan | Sashida | Mr. Sashida invented the traveling-wave-type ultrasonic motor. |
| Japan | Sumitomo Special Metals (currently NEOMAX) |
Mr. Masato Sagawa invented the neodymium magnet. | |
| 1983 | Japan | Kenjo/JMA | Mr. Kenjo launched "Small Motor Technology Exhibition". |
| 1984 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 3.5-inch HDDs. |
| 1988 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 2.5-inch HDDs. |
| 1992 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 1.8-inch HDDs. |
| Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 1.3-inch HDDs. | |
| 1994 | Japan | Nidec | The company shipped the world's first spindle motor for 1.8-inch HDDs incorporating fluid dynamic bearings (FDB) |
| 1998 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of spindle motors for 1.0-inch HDDs. |
| 1999 | Japan | JR | Speed of a linear motor car exceeded 500 km per hour on a test line. |
| 2000 | Japan | Nidec | The company launched production of electric power steering motors (in-vehicle motors). |
| Japan | Nidec | Nidec started full scale production of FDB motors. | |
| 2003 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec founded the Central Technical Laboratory. |
| 2005 | Japan | Nidec | The company established the Motor Engineering Research Laboratory. |
| 2007 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec's motors that were entered for the first time in the Japan Radio Control Power Glider Championship (F5B) hogged the spotlight by winning first, second, and third places. |
| 2010 | Japan | Nidec | In the 13th RC Power Glider World Championship, a glider containing a Nidec's motor won. |
| 2012 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec established the Nidec Research And Development Center. |
| 2014 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec Research and Development Center, Japan opens its new building. |
| 2015 | Japan | Shigenobu Nagamori | Establishes the "Nagamori Awards" to contribute to the promotion of scientific and industrial developments in the field of motors. |
| 2015 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec Corporation receives the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in the 2015 National Commendation for Invention hosted by Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. |
| 2017 | Japan | Nidec | Nidec Corporation Head Office ANNEX Global Learning Center opens. |
