Capital Letters
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The conventions of capitalization, outlined here, are pretty much standardized. When in doubt about an individual word, use a reliable dictionary to tell you when a special word requires a capital. As a rule, capitalize only when a convention or a dictionary tells you to. Do not capitalize needlessly.

When to Use a Capital

• The First Word of a Sentence
• The First Word of an Introduced Quotation
• The First Word of a Line of Poetry
• The Titles of Works
• The Titles of Persons Used with Proper Names
• The Pronoun I and the Interjection O
• Abbreviations of Organizations, Corporations, Government Agencies, Call Letters for Radio and Television Stations and Acronyms
• Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives

When Not to Use a Capital

• The First Word after a Colon
• The Names of Academic Subjects
• Scientific Terms
• Computer Terms
• Secondary Words in the Complimentary Close of a Letter

Capitalize the first word of every sentence.

Traffic was heavy today.

Capitalization of a series of questions is optional. Both of the following examples are acceptable:

Where is Timbuktu? In southern Ontario? In the Antarctic? Near Spokane, Washington?

Where is Timbuktu? in southern Ontario? in the Antarctic? near Spokane, Washington?

Capitalize the first word of an introduced quotation.

When you are directly quoting speech, capitalize the first letter of the quoted words, if it is capitalized in the source text.  

Henry Adams says, "A friend in power is a friend lost."

However, if you have integrated the quoted words into the structure of your sentence, do not capitalize the first quoted word:

Henry Adams says that friends who gain important offices are no longer friends.

If you need to alter the capitalization in the source, indicate the change
with brackets:

The author claims that "[r]italin makes young boys and girls dramatically improve their grades."

"[T]he ruins of forgotten times" are what Thomas Browne devoted his life to.

Capitalize the first word of a line of poetry.

The first word of a line of poetry is usually capitalized, unless the poet does otherwise:

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun:
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red. (Shakespeare)

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down). (e.e. cummings)

Capitalize most words in the titles of works.

In both titles and subtitles, major words such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs should be capitalized. Minor words such as articles ("a," "an," "the"), prepositions ("in," "at," "between," "through," etc.), and coordinating conjunctions ("and," but," "or," "for," "nor," "so," "yet") are not capitalized, unless they are the first or last word of a title or subtitle.  

A Jest of God

Alice in Wonderland

Not Wanted on the Voyage

Capitalize titles of persons that are used with proper names.

Professor Jay Jonah Jameson works on spiders.

Dr. Fritz Frankenstein adores lilacs.

District Attorney Hank Kingsley is in serious trouble for watching illegal videos.

But when no proper name accompanies the title, do not use capitals.

The district attorney is in serious trouble for watching illegal videos.

Capitalize the pronoun I and the interjection O.

O, how I love you more than, O, I don’t know what.

Capitalize abbreviations of organizations, corporations, government agencies, call letters for radio and television stations and acronyms (a word formed form the initial letters of a name).

CBC, IBM, AIDS, GST, NHL, NFL, PGA, FIFA, FBI

Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives.

Capitalize proper nouns (the names of specific persons, places, and things) and proper adjectives (the adjectival forms derived from proper nouns). But for the most part, do not capitalize common nouns (the names of general classes of persons, places, and things).

Proper Nouns	Common Nouns
God (used as a name)	a god
Alfred Hitchcock	a director
CN Tower	a skyscraper
France	a country
Golden Gate Bridge	a bridge
Father Andrew	a father
University of Western Ontario	a university
S. S. Titanic	an ocean liner
Prime Minister Trudeau	a prime minister
St. Joseph’s Hospital	a hospital
Microsoft Word	software
Honda Accord	a car
Earth	a planet
Milky Way	a galaxy

Do not capitalize the first word after a colon.

You are permitted to capitalize the first word after a colon, when it begins an independent clause. But even in this case, capitalization is optional. Whichever option you choose, try to be consistent.

There are types of people in this world: those who divide people into types and those who don’t.

(No capital is needed here.)

I have come to a single conclusion during my lifetime: rich [or Rich] people do not drive cars.

(A capital is optional here.)

Do not capitalize the names of academic subjects, unless they are languages.

Jason is taking geography, computer science, French, and philosophy.

However, the names of specific courses are capitalized.

Jason enjoys Educational Methods.

Do not capitalize scientific terms, unless they include a
proper noun.

Do not capitalize computer terms.

access
database
hard disc
megabyte

Only capitalize the first word in the complimentary close of a letter.

Sincerely yours,

All best wishes,

Yours truly,