JJ Thompson discovered that something had a negative charge in atoms contained in positively charged matter which were later found to be the electrons. His model is often described as "the cookie model" because what he envisioned resembled a cookie.
Rutherford was Thompson's student who continued his research of atomic structure. He further proved the presence of a positive charge in the center of an atom, which are the protons that are contained in the center structure called the nucleus.
These two major findings contributed to the current atomic model, which is called the cloud model.
A helpful website to understand the current atomic model and its complete evolution is at http://www.projectsharetexas.org/sites/default/files/resources/documents/EvolutionOfAtomicMode.l.pdf
I really liked how you composed this as kind of a "cause and effect" explanation! It really helped me see how each new discovery ultimately led to the model we have today. The link you posted at the end of your post was also really helpful in that it gave me the information that you didn't cover in the post. The only thing I would add would be noting that a cathode ray was used to find JJ Thompson's model :)
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