First-ever Physics Nobel was awarded for discovering X-rays
German physicist Wilhelm Conrad RÃ¶ntgen won the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for discovering X-rays. While testing if cathode rays could pass through glass, RÃ¶ntgen accidentally discovered the glowing rays on November 8, 1895 and dubbed them so because of their "unknown" nature. He later printed the first "medical" X-ray, which shows his wife's hand and a ring.