Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010
Proper names
Titles, names, and numbers
Style
23.2.1 People, Places, and Organizations
Capitalize the first letter in each element of the names of specific people, places, and organizations. Names that contain particles (such as de and van) or compound last names are capitalized unpredictably. When in doubt, consult Webster's Biographical Dictionary (1995) or another reliable authority. Do not capitalize prepositions (of ) and conjunctions (and) that are parts of names. If the precedes a name, it is not capitalized.
Eleanor Roosevelt the United States Congress
W. E. B. DuBois the State Department
Ludwig van Beethoven the European Union
Victoria Sackville-West the University of North Carolina
Chiang Kai-shek the Honda Motor Company
New York City the National Conference of Christians and Jews
the Atlantic Ocean the Roman Catholic Church
the Republic of Lithuania the Allied Expeditionary Force
A professional title that immediately precedes a personal name is treated as part of the name and should be capitalized. If you use the title alone or after the personal name, it becomes a generic term and should be lowercased. This also applies to other generic terms that are in place of organization names.
President Harry Truman announced the president announced
Professors Harris and Wilson wrote the professors wrote
next to the Indian Ocean next to the ocean
Names of ethnic and national groups are also capitalized. Terms denoting socioeconomic level, however, are not.
Arab Americans the middle class
Latinos blue-collar workers
Capitalize adjectives derived from names, unless they have become part of everyday language.
Machiavellian scheme french fries
Roman and Arabic art roman and arabic numerals
23.2.2 Historical Events and Periods
The names of many historical periods and events are traditionally capitalized; more generic terms usually are not, unless they include names.
the Bronze Age ancient Rome
the Depression the nineteenth century
the Industrial Revolution the Shang dynasty
Prohibition the colonial period
the Seven Years' War the baby boom
23.2.3 Other Types of Names
Other types of names also follow specific patterns for capitalization, and some require italics.
Acts, Treaties, and Government Programs
Capitalize the formal or accepted titles of acts, treaties, government programs, and similar documents or entities, but lowercase informal or generic titles.
the United States (or U.S.) Constitution the due process clause
the Treaty of Versailles the treaty
Head Start social programs
Brand Names
Capitalize the brand names of products, but do not use the symbols ® or ™ after the names. Unless you are discussing a specific product, use a generic term instead of a brand name.
Coca-Cola cola
Xerox photocopy
Electronic Technology
Capitalize names of computer hardware and software, networks, browsers, systems, and languages as well as shortened forms of these names.
Windows XP the Internet; the net
Internet Explorer the World Wide Web; the web
Ships, Aircraft, and Other Vessels
Capitalize and italicize the names of ships, aircraft, and the like. If the names are preceded by such abbreviations as USS (United States ship) or HMS (Her [or His] Majesty's ship), do not italicize these abbreviations or use the word ship in addition to the name.
USS Constitution Spirit of St. Louis
HMS Saranac the space shuttle Endeavor