Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ray Charles created soul music with his 1954 hit song I Got a Woman. The phrase soul music itself was first attested in 1961, but the feeling had been brewing in the African-American community for years before that date.
Motown Records in Detroit was created by Berry Gordy to produce polished tunes for pop radio. Stax Records in Memphis was founded by siblings Estelle and James Stewart, and Atlantic Records was founded by Ahmet Ertegun in 1947 to serve as a crucial bridge for early soul classics.
Soul music became a vehicle for social consciousness by 1968 as artists moved toward funk or developed slicker varieties that addressed the political climate. Marvin Gaye shifted the landscape with his 1971 hit What's Going On, which questioned the status quo and the treatment of Vietnam veterans.
Memphis soul was produced at Stax Records and Hi Records, while Philadelphia soul was based primarily in the Philadelphia International record label. New Orleans soul emerged from the rhythm and blues era with principal architect Allen Toussaint, and Chicago soul generally had a light gospel-influenced sound.
The United States saw the development of neo-soul around 1994, a blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B sounds and hip-hop beats. After the decline of disco and funk in the early 1980s, soul music became influenced by electro music, resulting in a style known as contemporary R&B.