Interestingly, the comic book character Batman started out as The Batman when he first appeared in 1939, but with fame he apparently lost his definite article.
From about 1867 to 1869, all the stories in the New York Times about a university in Ithaca called it "the Cornell University," with "the" uncapitalized and "Cornell" and "University" capitalized. During 1869 a transition occurred; one story is headlined "Cornell University--A Large Class Entered--Selection of Additional Professors," but the story text opens "The entrance examination of the Cornell University has been in progress here for the last three days..." From 1870 on, it's just "Cornell University."
Isn't that interesting?