First-ever Physics Nobel was awarded for discovery of X-rays

German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen won the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for discovering X-rays. While testing if cathode rays could pass through glass, Röntgen 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.