SIMBAD references

After a search of the University of Oklahoma plate archives, we found three plates from September 1956 showing the nova V404 Cygni at about 15th magnitude. This confirms the 1956 outburst reported by Richter (1989). We also give an overview of the object. Using previously published observations, we present light curves of both the 1938 and 1989 outbursts and discuss recent spectroscopic data concerning the binary nature of the system and the possibility that it contains a black hole.