Charles Glover Barkla was a British physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his discovery of characteristic X-rays. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1917, announced November 12, 1918. Charles Glover Barkla, “for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements”. Charles Glover Barkla: born 1877, Widnes, United Kingdom. Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).