Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT
LENDING WEIGHT
Unlike proper nouns (names of people and places), nouns that
identify objects or abstract entities are normally not capitalized, but
they may be if there is a reason to do so. Capitalizing a word gives
it more importance, and there are several circumstances where
capitalization of ordinary nouns is either mandatory or usual-or at
least acceptable.
WELL-KNOWN EVENTS OR ENTITIES
If an otherwise generic word has come to be associated with a
unique, well-known event or entity, capitalize it when you are using
it in that specific way. For example, you would write the depression
if referring to some current or minor historical economic downturn,
but the Depression if referring to the period of worldwide hardship
in the 1930s. Similarly,
the Crusades
the Holocaust
the Black Death
the Age of Reason
the Bomb
the Pill
the Golden Rule
Many such terms will be noted in the dictionary; others may not
have achieved dictionary status, but their capitalization is considered
to be a matter of common knowledge.
TITLES AND IDENTIFIERS
• Capitalize a title or an identifying term when it is part of a name.
If the same word is being used generically, do not capitalize it.
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Prince Charles
judge Goldberg
Professor Eng
the University of Miami
the Government of Ontario
New York City
American Sign Language
the prince
the judge
the professor
the university
the government
the city of New York
sign language