Ions are atoms or molecules that carry an electrical charge. This charge arises from an imbalance between the number of protons (positively charged) and electrons (negatively charged) in the ion. If an ion has more protons than electrons, it has a positive charge, and if it has more electrons than protons, it has a negative charge.
In 1903, Svante Arrhenius was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 1884 dissertation explaining how solid crystalline salts dissociate into charged particles when dissolved. His theory proposed that salts dissolved into what Faraday called "ions," even without an electric current present.