William Herschel discovered NGC 4404 = H III-756, along with NGC 4403, on 20 Mar 1789 (sweep 913) and recorded both as "Two, both vF, vS, E, within 1 1/2' of each other." His single position is less than 1' from NGC 4404.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/19/01): this is the following member of a close pair with NGC 4404 just 0.9' SW. Moderately bright, round, fairly small, 0.8'x0.6' SW-NE. Contains a sharp, brighter core. Although smaller than NGC 4403 this galaxy is the brighter of the pair with a higher surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb