We discuss a new IRAS Faint Source Catalog galaxy redshift catalogue (RIFSCz) which incorporates data from Galex, SDSS, 2MASS, WISE, AKARI and Planck. AKARI uxes are consistent with photometry from other far infrared and submillimetre missions provided an aperture correction is applied. Results from the Hermes-SWIRE survey in Lockman are also discussed brie y, and the strong contrast between the galaxy populations selected at 60 and 500 μm is summarized.

Some after-dinner thoughts on the giants of infrared space astronomy. I here describe important events in infrared astronomy starting from 1964 when I started working on my PhD. Here I describe how I became involved in IRAS, Infrared Space Observatrory (ISO), Herschel , Spitzer and AKARI, together with important events that led to these great missions.