Was electron scattering observed before it was exlained?

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If a beam of electrons pass through a plane where the potental energy abruptly increases but not enough to classically stop the electrons, some of the beam will reflect. Was this affect, or anything like it, ever observed before it was explained by the wave model?

 

[Meir Achuz]

I don't think so. My understanding is that the first experiment demonstrating the wave motion of electrons was electron diffraction by Davisson and Germer in 1926.
Their experiment followed (and I believe was inspired by) de Broglie's 1924 PhD thesis proposing the wave nature of the motion.

 

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Their experiment followed (and I believe was inspired by) de Broglie's 1924 PhD thesis proposing the wave nature of the motion.

I read they discoverd it by accident.