Meteorites that actually strike the earth are rare, but there have been a few notable strikes in recent history. I found an interesting web page that covers the history of recent meteor strikes. These are strikes that occur from some of the larger objects that enter our earth's atmosphere. These objects were all on the order of several inches across and weight a kilogram or two. Even though these objects are small, they were able to produce considerable damage, as seen from the photos.
When you are out viewing your favorite meteor shower you have little to fear from any of them from reaching the ground. This is because the more popularly viewed meteor showers like the Leonids or Perseids are made up of small particles of dust an ice from comets. Few of these particles are much bigger than a grain of sand, and burn up before they ever reach the ground. If you do happen to see a fireball reach the ground during one of the more popular showers, then it may not be related to the actual comet that the showers particles originated from.
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