the

As a general rule lowercase the in the names of magazines, newspapers, organizations (even if the organization's letterhead doesn't), statuary, nicknames, epithets, and appellations:

Capitalize the article the in a few place-names:

            The Dalles

            The Hague

but     the Bronx.

Note that current National Geographic reference map policy is to capitalize leading articles for The Bahamas and The Gambia to reflect the official short form names of these countries. In lists, The Bahamas is alphabetized under B, the The Gambia under G. This policy does not apply to other countries that commonly though unofficially take a leading article, e.g., the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic. NGM does not follow this policy and uses "the Bahamas" and "the Gambia." 

In epithets and appellations, the is preferably placed outside the initial quotation mark:

            the "salmon capital of the world"

            the "bull of the woods"

but     Werner "the Bruiser" Janney.

In titles of books, songs, plays, etc., capitalize an initial The, but after a possessive, omit The or A:

            The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

            Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.