Great Comet
Particularly bright comets which came to public attention (i.e. beyond the astronomy community) would be described as the great comet of that year, such as the "Great Comet of 1680" and "Great Comet of 1882". If more than one great comet appeared in a single year, the month would be used for disambiguation e.g. the "Great January comet of 1910". Occasionally other additional adjectives might be used.