ABSTRACT
The glitter of Galactic supernovae, bright enough to become visible to the unaided eye, has fascinated human beings since ancient times. Most of the supernovae witnessed before the Renaissance were documented and compiled in the Far East (modern-day China1, mostly) and later introduced in Western Europe and North America by Edouard C. Biot and Alexander von Humboldt in the mid-nineteenth century. Since then, several astronomers, such as Ernst Zinner, Hans Lundmark, Issei Yamamoto, Ze-Zong Xi, Shu-Ren Bo, Peng Yoke Ho, David H. Clark, Francis R. Stephenson, and David A. Green have followed in their footsteps. The next section reviews the list of supernovae found in historical records by these pioneers.
