President Trump is hosting a parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army today, bringing tanks and soldiers to the streets of Washington, D.C., for the capital's first major military parade in more than three decades.

In democracies, military parades are meant to commemorate, whereas in authoritarian regimes they’re meant to intimidate.” Those were the words of Ohio State University historian Matthew Frakes, and they rang true on June 14,

The military parade to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary and its convergence with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday are combining to create a peacetime outlier in U.S. history. Yet it still reflects global traditions that serve a range of political and cultural purposes.

Washington, D.C. is gearing up for one of the largest military parades in recent history as the U.S. Army marks its 250th anniversary this Saturday.