At least three thousand years prior to the founding of the Galactic Republic, the inhabitants of the Core Worlds planet Shawken began a construction project on a new building. This building became known as the Shawken Spire, and during the span of over 9,000 years, it grew evermore towering. All the while, the Republic was established and unified and grew through settlement and annexation during the Expansionist Era and the beginning portions of the Great Manifest Period.
By 18,780 BBY, the Great Manifest Period was more than 1,000 years in the making. The Republic continued its expansion eastward into the uncharted Wild Space areas of what later became "the Slice." In the Core, the Shawken Spire had become a super-tall structure that reached low-orbit altitude. Made of ancient building materials, the building was famous across the known galaxy. The iconic construct, however, met its destruction at this time.
The Great Manifest Period continued for nearly 2,000 more years, as the Republic continued its expansion. On Shawken, the renowned Spire was later rebuilt with more modern materials. The original structure, however, retained its fame and was included in a list of galactic wonders composed by the historian Vicendi in his 10,000 BBY publication Arturum Galactinum.
- The Shawken Spire, a super-tall structure on Shawken that reached low-orbit altitude, was destroyed.
The year 18,780 BBY receives its only canonical mention in The Essential Atlas in reference to the destruction of the Shawken Spire. The year, however, is also indirectly referred to by the labeling of the time period known as the Great Manifest Period from 20,000 BBY to 17,000 BBY in the Atlas.
- The Essential Atlas