Editing John Backus (section)

==Early life==

Backus was born in [[Philadelphia]] and grew up in nearby [[Wilmington, Delaware]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thocp.net/biographies/backus_john.htm|title=John Backus|work=The History of Computing Project|access-date=28 April 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427013234/http://www.thocp.net/biographies/backus_john.htm|archive-date=April 27, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He studied at [[The Hill School]] in [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania]], but he was apparently not a diligent student.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news  | first = Steve | last = Lohr | title = John W. Backus, 82, Fortran Developer, Dies | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/business/20backus.html | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = March 20, 2007 | access-date =March 21, 2007 }}</ref> He entered college at the [[University of Virginia]] to study [[chemistry]], but struggled with his classes there, and he was expelled after less than a year for poor attendance.<ref name="amturing.acm.org">{{cite web|url=http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/backus_0703524.cfm|title=John Backus - A.M. Turing Award Laureate|website=ACM A.M. Turing Award |access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119064507/https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/backus_0703524.cfm|archive-date=January 19, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He was subsequently conscripted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] during [[World War II]],<ref name="nytobit"/> and eventually came to hold the rank of corporal, being put in command of an anti-aircraft battery stationed at [[Fort Stewart]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name="amturing.acm.org"/>

After receiving high scores on a military aptitude test, the Army sent him to study engineering at the [[University of Pittsburgh]].<ref name="amturing.acm.org"/> He later transferred to a pre-medical program at [[Haverford College]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/backus.html | title = Inventor of the Week Archive John Backus | date = February 2006 | access-date = August 25, 2011 | url-status = dead |website= Lemelson-MIT Program  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111026012905/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/backus.html | archive-date = October 26, 2011 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> During an internship at a hospital, he was diagnosed with a cranial [[bone tumor]], which was successfully removed, and a plate was installed in his head. He then moved to the [[New York Medical College|Flower and Fifth Avenue Medical School]] for medical school, but found it uninteresting and dropped out after nine months.<ref name="amturing.acm.org"/> He soon underwent a second operation to replace the metal plate in his head with one of his own design,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Backus_John/Backus_John_1.oral_history.2006.102657970.pdf | title = Oral History of John Backus | author = Grady Booch | date = September 25, 2006 | access-date = August 17, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> and received an honorable medical discharge from the U.S. Army in 1946.<ref name="amturing.acm.org"/>