Thomas Shaw decided to treat himself to a cigar.

Why not?

It was his lunch break, and in 1907 a big shot lawyer like him could smell like cigars

after lunch and no one batted an eye.

Besides, Shaw's case was going swell that day.

It was in the bag.

So Shaw and a colleague wandered outside the courthouse in Fargo, and just like you might

find a food truck today.

They found a cigar wagon and selected two fine stokies.

Now Shaw's colleague was old-fashioned.

He lit his cigar with a match, not Shaw.

Shaw loved technology, anything new-fangled.

So he lit his cigar with a fancy electric lighter on display in the wagon.

What a marvel!

It was the worst decision of Shaw's life.

Because when he bent down and started inhaling, the electric lighter shorted out and exploded

in his face.

The resulting injuries left Shaw blind, and he assumed that his career, if not his life,

wore over.

He was wrong.

Not only did Shaw resume practicing law, he got himself elected to Congress, the first

blind person ever to serve in Congress.

...