3) The use of articles in the names of places, some buildings, public organizations

Names of places, buildings, etc.

The definite article

No article

Historical events

the French Revolution

Public / Political Organizations

the Senate, the Houses of Parliament, the United Nations, the Government, the FBI, the BBC, the CNN

NATO, Parliament, Congress

Public / Historical buildings, Churches, monuments

the Bank of England, the Old Bailey, the Royal Exchange, the Winter Palace, the Tower of London, the Bronze Horse Man, the Sphinx, the Taj Mahal, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Eiffel Tower

Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge

Documents, conferences, prizes, awards

the Constitution, the Washington Summit, the Yalta Conference, the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Grammy Award

Parties

the Labour Party, the Tory

Names of newspapers and periodicals

the Times, the Washington Post

(foreign) Pravda, Der Spiegel, USA Today, Variety, Newsweek, Time, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Vogue

Businesses and Chains of Shops

General Motors, Sony, Shell

Ships, Trains, Spacecraft

the Orient Express, the Titanic

Apollo, Challenger

Theatres, Cinemas

the Globe, the Bolshoy, the Odeon, the Arbat

Her Majesty’s, Carnegie Hall, City Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Museums

the British Museum, the hermitage, the Tate Gallery

Parks

The Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the London Gardens, the Montreal Botanical Garden, the Tivoli Gardens, the Snowdonia National Park

Hyde Park, St. James’s Park,

Schools, colleges, Universities

the University of London, the George Washington University, the John Hopkins University

Carnegy College, London University, Manchester Grammar School

Restaurants

the Cage Royal

Leoni’s

Hotels

the Hilton

Brown’s, Holiday Inn

Stations and Airports

Heathrow, Sheremetyevo

The names Counties, States, Streets, Squares, bridges, highways

but

the High street, the Mall,

the Strand, the Arbat, the Cathedral Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pan American Highway, the FDR Drive, names of streets in foreign countries: the Rue de Rivoli, the Via Manzoni

Yorkshire, Texas, Oxford Street , Fifth Avenue, Trafalgar Square, London Bridge

Holidays

The Fourth of July, the Cherry Festival, the Jazz festival

Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Mardi Grass