Trump is hosting his first state visit in office — take a look back at how the elaborate diplomatic tradition became what it is today

• State visits are an important tradition in the US, and follow a strict protocol. 
• Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is currently hosting French president Emmanuel Macron for a state visit.
• It's the first state visit that Trump has ever handled.
• So far, observers have commented on the apparent "bromance" between the two presidents, as well as the strange moment when Trump made a point of brushing dandruff from Macron's shoulder.
• Here's a look back at some notable and opulent state visits across history.

US president Donald Trump and first lady Melania are currently hosting French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.

It's the first state visit that Trump's hosted. So far, it's involved glowing speeches, policy disagreements, a growing "bromance," possibly coordinated outfits, and a tour of George Washington's Mount Vernon.

But the mere presence of a world leader in the US does not a state visit make. Business Insider's Ellen Cranley reported that, technically, a state visit must include "a full-honors arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House with a 21-gun salute, a state luncheon at the US State Department, and a White House state dinner."

Here's a look back at some memorable state visits from years past, which featured famous guests, sumptuous dining, and trips around America:

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The King of Hawaii was the first leader to make a state visit to the United States

The first US state visit didn't happen until the Grant administration.

On December 12, 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant held a dinner in honor of King David Kalakaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii, who had first arrived in San Francisco and then taken the Transcontinental Railway to DC.

The Washington Post reported that Grant and his wife Julia threw the king an opulent soiree complete with with $3,000 china.

Grand Duchess Charlotte attended a fancy Elizabethan banquet with the Kennedys

To commemorate the 1963 state visit of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy pulled out all the stops.

The state dinner featured "Sherlock Holmes" actor Basil Rathbone and Consort Players of New York reciting the works of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Donne, and Robert Herrick.

President John F. Kennedy also requested that Rathbone recite "The Battle of Agincourt" from "Henry V," and the actor reportedly acquiesced, according to The New York Times.

The Duchess, who was the longest-reigning European monarch at the time, also visited Philadelphia, Chicago, Cape Canaveral, and New York on her trip.

Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was honored at the last state visit of the Kennedy administration

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's state visit occurred from September 30 - October 7, 1963.

The American Menu blog reported that Selassie, the Kennedys, and their guests were served roast beef sirloin, string beans with almonds, and green salad.

The First Lady joined her husband to greet Selassie at Union Station in DC. But, according to The American Menu, she was still grieving the death of her infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, and left the state dinner early to go on a cruise with her sister Lee Radziwell on the yacht of Aristotle Onassis, her future second husband.

Selassie would be the last international figure to be honored with a state visit during the Kennedy administration. President Kennedy was assassinated a little over a month later, on November 22, 1963.