Every four years on January 20 (or January 21 if January 20 falls on a Sunday), the new president of the United States of America is inaugurated. And this year, on January 20th, 2025 President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second presidency. 

The term inauguration itself can be traced back to the days of the Roman Republic, (510 BC – 27 BC). In these days, people named Augurs, who was a religious official who interpreted the will of the gods by watching bird flight patterns to help make decisions about public policy and military actions. Then, the latin noun inauguratio comes from the verb inaugurare, which means "to take omens from birds in flight." This combination is where the etymology of the term inauguration comes from.

The first inauguration of George Washington, our nation's first president, was different from today's ceremony. Though Washington D.C. is now the capital of the United States, the nation's first capital was New York City, where the event took place. Originally, Washington was meant to begin responsibility in March 1789, but due to severe weather, congressmen couldn’t count the votes or announce the new president until April 6th. On that day, congressmen gathered, counted the votes, and announced: "Whereby it appears that George Washington, Esq. was unanimously elected President, and John Adams, Esq. was duly elected Vice President of the United States of America..." As the news ventured from state to state, the official inauguration date, on April 30th came about. After his swearing in, George Washington soon followed up with a speech, otherwise known as his Inaugural Address, setting a tradition for every president in the future to do the same. President Trump continued the tradition by delivering a moving Inaugural Speech promising to grow the United States, stop fighting in other countries, and spoke strongly against how things were being done.

Now, just last week, the 47th president of the United States was inaugurated. Four of the past presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden attended his inauguration, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran against him during the election. Similarly, some familiar names who attended the inauguration included the CEOs of major tech companies: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sundar Pichai of Google. 

 Every presidential inauguration is followed by a grand parade where the president, the first lady, and their guests travel down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. The tradition started with President Thomas Jefferson in 1805. The parade today includes military personnel, marching bands, and colorful floats. During President Donald Trump's second inauguration, the traditional outdoor parade was relocated indoors due to severe cold temperatures and high winds. The inaugural parade took place at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., featuring performances from military bands, law enforcement units, and marching bands from various schools and colleges. 

In conclusion, the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, was a big event filled with tradition and celebration. The event highlighted the peaceful transfer of power and democracy of the American government.