In 1660, a group of men devoted to the radical idea of actually testing their ideas about the way the world worked formed a club of sorts -- meeting once a week, not just to drink heavily, but to try out scientific experiments (and presumably, drink heavily afterwards). The King approved, and within a couple of years their Society became Royal.
Members kept a running record of their experiments, and were soon publishing reports they received from other natural philosophers. Over the centuries, the journal and its descendants have seen the first appearance of all manner of scientific discoveries, including the first description of microorganisms, a demonstration that lightning is electrical, equations describing electromagnetism, and evidence for plate tectonics, as well as cautionary tales and the occasional paper about sex. As part of their anniversary celebration, the Royal Society has put up an interactive timeline of major discoveries, and it's a lot of fun to play with.
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