Melina Kanakaredes walks on to a theatre stage

 Melina Kanakaredes walks on to a theatre stage at the American College of Greece

Queen Sofia looks at the temple of Athena Nike

Queen Sofia  looks at the temple of Athena Nike at the Acropolis hill in Athens

Tourists stand in front of the Athena Parthenon Temple

Tourists stand in front of the Athena Parthenon Temple while visiting the Acropolis archaeological site in Athens

Greek Yannis Bouroussis bleeds after Serb Nenad Krstic threw a chair at him

 Yannis Bouroussis, who did not take part in the game, bleeds after Serb Nenad Krstic threw a chair at him during a basketball game for the Acropolis tournament at the indoor Olympic stadium of Athens

An Iranian refugee with his mouth stitched, lies on a pavement during a hunger strike

An Iranian refugee with his mouth stitched, lies on a pavement during a hunger strike outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Athens

Beautiful but deadly

Ancient scene

The ancient Greek Parthenon temple, atop the Acropolis hill overlooking Athens, is framed by a lightning bolt during a thunderstorm on Oct. 9, 2006.


Space Needle lightning show

Lightning strikes west of the Space Needle in Seattle, Wash., on Aug. 4, 1999.


London lightning

Lightning flashes in the night sky on Aug. 7, 2008 in London, England.


Wyoming rainbow

A lightning bolt strikes through a rainbow during a thunderstorm over Sheridan, Wyo., on June 15, 2005.


Riveting Rotterdam

Lightning lights up the Rotterdam skyline on May 26, 2009 as a heavy storm raged over the Netherlands

Electrifying take-off

A bolt of lightning strikes near Terminal D as an American Airlines jet takes off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Sept. 11, 2006.



Lightning in the desert

Lightning strikes as a much-needed rainstorm comes to Lake Powell near Page, Ariz., on March 24, 2007.


Dramatic skyline

Lightning strikes over Guangzhou International Finance Center during a rainstorm in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province on June 3, 2009.


Volcano voltage

Lightning bolts appear above and around Chile's Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, to the north, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years on May 2, 2008.


Lightning lighthouse

Lightning streaks toward the Wind Point Lighthouse on Lake Michigan as severe storms hit Wind Point, Wis., on Aug. 18, 2005.


Close to home

Lightning strikes behind a house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Aug. 26, 2004.



Tall target

Lighting strikes over buildings in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province, on Aug. 1, 2006.



Night sky

Lightning sparks across the night sky as a heavy thunderstorm makes its way across Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., on May 20, 2008.


Church strike

Neil Fraser watches as lightning hits beyond a church in Rosser, Manitoba, early Sunday morning July 30, 1995.

MSNBC.com