capitalization: time references, and historical periods and events

On this page

• Time references and events that are capitalized
• Time references and events that are not capitalized

Time references and events that are capitalized

Capitalize the names of months and days:

• October
• Wednesday

Capitalize the names of holidays and holy days:

• Thanksgiving Day
• April Fool’s Day
• Passover
• Christmas

Capitalize the names of historical periods and events:

• the Middle Ages
• the Roaring Twenties
• the Great Depression
• the Second World War
• World War II
• the Gulf War

Capitalize the names of geological periods and events:

• the Ice Age
• the Pleistocene Epoch

Capitalize the names of parliamentary sessions:

• The First Session of the Thirty-second Parliament

Capitalize the names of events recorded in sacred writings and of historical events with a strong religious dimension:

• the Flood
• the Exodus
• the Immaculate Conception
• the Crucifixion
• the Hegira
• the Crusades
• the Great Schism
• the Reformation
• the Diet of Worms
• the Second Vatican Council

Time references and events that are not capitalized

Don’t capitalize the names of centuries or decades:

• the twentieth century
• the fifties

Don’t capitalize terms referring to events and periods used in a general sense:

• the most recent ice age
• the two world wars
• a fashion revolution
• a crusade against poverty
• stone-age management techniques