I came across this handy hint on Mac OS X Hints. It adds a “special folder” to your Dock that allows you to easily browse recent applications, documents, servers, volumes etc.

Open Terminal and type, (or paste), the following command:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{ "tile-data" = { "list-type" = 1; }; "tile-type" = "recents-tile"; }'

After the command has completed, type “killall Dock” (no quotes) to restart the Dock. You’ll now have a new icon beside your Trash. Click the icon to open a stack showing your recent documents. Command-click, or right click to show options to display:

• Recent Applications
• Recent Documents
• Recent Servers
• Favourite Volumes, and
• Favourite Items