What makes a lightbulb just suddenly explode?

Had this happen to me a few hours ago. Turned on a lamp with a 60-watt soft-white GE bulb in it (factory recommended for the lamp) and a few seconds later the darn thing just shattered all over my desk (and me). After I realized what had happened I looked at the lamp and there was a small and brief stream of smoke coming out of the lamp where the bottom part of the bulb (the part that screws into the lamp) was still attached. The bulb had been screwed in properly and had been there for several weeks. What happened?

Answers:
power surge more than likely... but an incandescent light bulb is quickly converted into a bomb with one shot from a water gun when it is on... learned this as a kid... parents didnt like the gaining of this knowledge

Other answers:
Probably a power surge. This happened to me once while I was taking a bath--three lightbulbs exploded. I found out later that the power company was working on the lines, and it was a surge.
Probably a power surge. This happened to me once while I was taking a bath--three lightbulbs exploded. I found out later that the power company was working on the lines, and it was a surge.
moisture prolly got to the bubl and caused it to explode because hot glass coming in contact with cooler water will cause it to shatter
Could it be that you had a power surge? If so I recommend you get a surge arrester from an electrician.
Also it could of just been a faulty globe or you might want to take you lamp back to the manufacturer.
This happened to me, but it was a bulb in a dining room hanging light fixture and it scared me to death. I asked my electrician how this could happen and he told me it was probably a defective bulb if I was using the proper watt bulb for the fixture. He said sometimes the metal screw part is not correctly attached to the glass part. It can also happen, however, if the bulb, socket or fixture gets wet. My friend's son had a spray bottle to discipline their puppy , but missed and hit a lamp. The bulb blew up, too.
Putting too much electricity into it
Lamps often use a maximum wattage bulb, i.e. 20 watts, 40 watts, and so on.... Sounds like you might have put a 100 watt bulb in a 40 watt lamp?
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