  The brightest optical flash from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) was, briefly, a
naked-eye object. Several other GRBs have produced optical transients only
slightly fainter. We argue that, based upon the recently accumulated data from
hundreds of GRB transients, many such optical events should have been visible
to the unaided eye in the course of human history. The most likely repositories
of such observations are historical records from the Orient, and we have
located and discuss a number of candidates. We also consider the value of such
observations, should any very likely ones be uncovered, to modern astrophysics.
