Grammar: Nouns and When to Capitalize Them

I have started a series of grammar blogs. It will discuss the basics. I need the basics.

First Lesson: Nouns and When to Capitalize Them

Rules:

Capitalize:

1) Names of specific people: Ann, the Altman family, Roger
2) Days of the week, months, and holidays
3) Ranks and titles used with particular person's name: Doctor Handslip, Auntie Social, General Lee
4) Geographic Areas: Mexico, Ohio River, Pacific Ocean
5) Regions: North, Midwest
6) Historical Periods: World War II, Civil War
7) Religions, Nationalities, Races, Languages: Christians, Asians, English, German measles
8) School courses: Algebra 101, History of Rome
9) Names of schools, businesses, organizations, brand names, clubs and their members
10) Planets
11) Letters that stand alone: T-shirt or X-ray
12) Titles of movies, books, articles

When do you not capitalize?

1) You capitalize "Dad" and "Mom" when you call them but not when you say, "my dad"
2) You don't capitalize the seasons
3) You capitalize North when you are referring to a region but not when you are giving directions.
4) Do not capitalize the sun or moon. Do not capitalize the word earth unless you are referring to it as a planet.
5) In title names, do not capitalize "a, an, the, and, but, in, of, with, etc." unless they are

a) the beginning word or

b) they are part of the verb: Hold Up

Taken from the book Painless Grammar (Painless Series)
by Rebecca Elliott