The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, although not formally incorporated until 1662 is celebrating its 350 year in 2010. As an early gift to all of us, they just launched a new section on their excellent website:

At Trailblazing the Royal Society showcases some 60 of the most important pieces of science ever published in a "virtual journey through science".

Amongst the works are over Isaac Newton's famous theory on light and colours, Benjamin Franklin's kite-experiment, Alessandro Volta's report on the invention of the battery, Michael Faraday's speculation on the relationship between gravity (!) and electricity, the Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field by James Clerk Maxwell, Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden's discovery of the atomic nucleus, Crick and Watson's discovery of the structure of DNA, the prediction of black holes and their characteristics by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, and the "identification of flawed reasoning in the evolutionary debate" by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin, and many, many more.

The whole thing is done rather brilliantly, but for those who don't like flashy graphics, here is a .pdf with short abstracts and direct links to all the articles (which are .pdf as well).

Enjoy!