1 Introduction

Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are a unique phenomenon. Their observed intense emission, which often dominates the high-energy sky during their brief appearance, has no parallel in all of astronomy. Combined with the fact that GRBs originate from sources at cosmological distances, gamma-ray bursts are truly astounding: they are the most luminous events known in the Universe.

  

Figure 1: Examples of some intense BATSE GRBs without fine time structures. Trigger 451 is an example of a multiple-FRED burst (Fast-Rise, Exponential Decay). In almost all multiple-FREDs the rise-times of the different sub-pulses tend to be similar and much shorter than the fall-times, which also tend to be similar to each other

This paper briefly describes some of the distinguishing observed features of GRBs, with particular emphasis on some recent observations with the BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. Data availability, dissemination and future operations are also discussed.