Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 4316, along with NGC 4315, on 17 Mar 1882. He reported it in his 5th discovery list and noted the 20" pair of stars off the northwest end so the identification with UGC 7447 is certain, although there are only a couple of stars near his offset for NGC 4315. Édouard Stephan independently found NGC 4316 on 1 Apr 1884 and reported it as new in his 13th discovery list (#68). His position was accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/24/90): fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated WNW-ESE, weak concentration. A double star is off the WNW end with components 13.2/13.5 at 19". NGC 4307 is 21' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb