From Erik Arneson,
Your Guide to Board / Card Games.
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Games have existed in some form throughout human history, but only have been commercially published with the goal of selling them to a wide audience since the 1800s. These are my picks for the most culturally and historically significant games published since 1800.

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1800 - 1849

• Kriegspiel (1824)
• The Mansion of Happiness (1843)

1850 - 1899

• The Checkered Game of Life (1860)
• Crokinole (1876)
• Tiddlywinks (1888)

1900 - 1919

• Pit (1904)
• Rook (1906)
• Touring (1906)

1920 - 1939

• Sorry! (1934)
• Monopoly (1935)

1940-1949

• Ethan Allen's All-Star Baseball Game (1941)
• Chutes and Ladders (1943)
• Scrabble (1948)
• Candyland (1949)
• Clue / Cluedo (1949)
• Electric Football (1949)

1950 - 1959

• APBA Baseball (1951)
• Yahtzee (1956)
• Concentration (1959)
• Diplomacy (1959)
• Risk (1959)

1960 - 1969

• Football Strategy (1960)
• Game of the States (1960)
• Tactics II (1961)
• Acquire (1962)
• Password (1962)
• Jeopardy (1964)
• Twister (1966)
• Facts in Five (1967)

1970 - 1979

• Uno (1971)
• Dungeons and Dragons (1973)
• Dungeon (1975)
• Cosmic Encounter (1977)
• Hare and Tortoise (1979)
• Stop Thief (1979)

1980 - 1989

• Civilization (1980)
• Empire Builder (1980)
• Trivial Pursuit (1982)
• Who Killed Roger Ellington? (1982)
• Warhammer (1983)
• Axis and Allies (1984)
• Balderdash (1984)
• Scotland Yard (1985)
• Pictionary (1986)
• Werewolf / Mafia (1986)

1990 - 1999

• Adel Verpflichtet / By Hook or Crook (1990)
• Magic: The Gathering (1993)
• We the People (1994)
• Settlers of Catan (1995)

2000 - present

• Scene It? (2002)

Honorable Mentions

The games on the Honorable Mentions list didn't make it into the Top 50 for various reasons, but deserve to be mentioned as culturally and historically significant modern games.

Games by Publisher

The games listed here are also listed on a separate page organized by game publisher.

It goes without saying that this list is subjective. It was written with an admitted U.S. bias. If you think I've missed an important game or included one that shouldn't be there, please post a note in the About.com Board and Card Games Forum.