I forgot to link this a couple days ago. So, as penance for my bad memory, there's a nearby ongoing supernova in the M82 galaxy. The bad news is that you probably won't be able to see it with the unaided eye (but a good pair of binoculars and a dark night might help). It'll be just above and to the left of the tip of Ursa Major (or the "big-ass bear" in Latin). It should reach its peak brightness within two weeks.
Also, because of the shear distances we're talking about (12 million light years), that star has actually been long gone for, well, 12 million years. This would have occurred during the Miocene, and it's possible none of our earliest hominid ancestors were alive.
Be glad you're not in M82 though. If you were nearby, you would have been cooked.