Some observers said they were reminded of John Paul II, whose personal warmth shone when he came out in 1978 and asked the crowd to be patient with his Italian.

WSJ: Argentina's Cardinal Bergoglio Elected Pope

After just one day, employees who had been working for the superstar suddenly came out of their offices and shone, producing brilliant work.

FORBES: Why You Should Never Hire Superstar Talent

In their latest experiment, Dr Sullivan and his colleagues painted the blades of a rotor with both temperature-and pressure-sensing paints, shone laser light on to them, and mapped out the temperatures and pressures as the blades whirred around as fast as 14, 000 rotations per minute.

ECONOMIST: Pressure paints

There was no moon, and the stars were high and faint, but the rails shone clear and far, as if they were gathering, out of the poverty of darkness, the light that had been scattered in the gloom.

NEWYORKER: Among Animals and Plants

India's star shone even brighter when Madras-based director Manoj Night Shyamalan turned out a sleeper hit in The Sixth Sense.

CNN: Once Again, With Attitude

As I began stroking out towards the centre of the lake, the sun shone on my back and butterflies flew around my head.

BBC: Long-distance swimming in Nepal��s glacial mountain lakes

The bank rescues shone a spotlight on the unfairness of a system in which affluent bankers were bailed out whereas ordinary folk lost their houses and jobs.

ECONOMIST: For richer, for poorer