ca 912: Nikephoros Phokas is born in Cappadocia (?)
945-955: Strategos of the theme ton Anatolikon
955: Magistros; domestikos ton scholon of the East
957: Nikephoros Phokas captures the fortress of Adatas
Μάρτιος 961: After a nine-month siege Crete returns to Byzantine hands
962: Successful campaigns in the eastern frontier: capture of the cities Anavarzos, Raban, Germanikeia, Doliche
March 963: Death of Emperor Romanos II
April 963: Triumph of Nikephoros Phokas in Constantinople. He becomes the most powerful competitor for the imperial throne
2 July 963: Nikephoros is proclaimed emperor in Caesarea, Cappadocia
16 August 963: Nikephoros is crowned in Constantinople. He marries the Empress Theophano, widow of Romanos II
965: Great successes in the East in Mopsouestia, Tarsos, Cyprus
966: Siege of Antioch. Transfer of a holy relic (Hagion Keramion, mean. the holy Tile) to Constantinople from Ierapolis
968: New siege of Antioch
night of 10th to 11th of December 969: The conspirators, led by the future emperor, John Tzimiskes, murder Nikephoros Phokas inside the imperial palace in Constantinople