This is known as uniform motion. An object continues to do whatever it happens to be doing unless a force is exerted upon it. If it is at rest, it continues in a state of rest (demonstrated when a tablecloth is skilfully whipped from under dishes on a tabletop and the dishes remain in their initial state of rest).
The spinning wheel was invented in China about 1000 AD and the earliest drawing of a spinning wheel that we have is from about 1035 AD (see Joseph Needham). Spinning wheels later spread from China to Iran, from Iran to India, and eventually to Europe. Back to 1000 years of Spinning Wheels.
History of the Pottery Wheel. The original pottery wheel didn't spin constantly. I was just a round surface that could be rotated as the pot was being built by hand. About 5000 years ago the pottery wheel was invented. There have been many versions of it over the centuries, including hand powered and foot powered wheels. There are wheels that are spun using a stick which is inserted into a notch on the wheel. There are foot powered treadle wheels.