Cathode rays were first identified by

1. William Crookes in 1870 discovered cathode rays in a low-pressure discharge tube. 2. In 1879 he suggested they were streams of fast-moving negatively-charged particles. 3. J. J. Thomson later (1897) confirmed and measured e/m of these particles. 4. Roentgen discovered X-rays; Rutherford came later with the nuclear model. _Source: syllabus Physics, Ch 11 "Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter", §11.1_