I have no idea how this happened. A few nights ago, when doing the dishes, I set several drinking glasses upside down on a paper towel, to absorb the water draining out of them, next to the dishrack, as I have been doing for more than 20 years. The following morning, however, my Mom picked up or moved one of the glasses, and it suddenly burst into a thousand pieces! (it was made of that kind of glass that breaks up into pebble-like pieces instead of jagged shards.)
What would make a glass do this kind of thing–air pressure (or lack of it)?
Your Mom’s really gotta relax.
Just kidding. No idea, really. Is it possible that the glass was already cracked and you just didn’t notice?
I know that this isn’t strictly related to the OP, but the most impressive shattering glass incident I witnessed involved an old Melmac (melamine) coffee cup. It fell from a counter onto a concrete floor. I thought they were unbreakable. I was wrong. It hit the floor and made the loudest BOOM I’ve heard indoors. Pieces of that glass were found twenty feet away. They landed on the floor, the counter and one hit the sink. I’m sure if someone had been in the wrong spot they would have lost an eye.
Keith
You want brilliance BEFORE I’ve had my coffee!!!
One of my fancier scars is from a glass exploding in my hand when I was washing it. We theorized that it happened because the glass had just had ice in it, and the water was extremely hot. Much blood, stitches and everything.
Catrandom
Go to a vet that’s also a taxidermist. Either way, you’ll get your cat back. Sig courtesy of the amazing WallyM7
Some glass is tempered to make it tougher. They pre-stress the glass which makes it more resistant to breaking. It works very well, but it has the side effect of causing the glass to shatter explosively when it does go.
I’ve heard that dropping a hardened glass object the first time complicates the stress picture and the second shock, which might be slight, finishes the job – leading to the unexpected explosive behavior.
Or something like that.
OK, this is turning into a “no help for the OP’er, but tell your ‘exploding glass,’ story”
So here’s mine.
I was working as a bartender at a resort during the day. Extremely slow; just a few customers. A lot of time to read, etc.
The various tumblers, mugs and assorted glasses were stacked where they always are at the end of the bar. I was in there alone, nowhere near them.
All of a sudden, like dougie said, BOOM! One of the glasses exploded into hundreds of pieces. Flying as far as 10 feet or so away.
Don’t know why, exactly. My WAG: Maybe the glasses were stacked together wet, and got wedged together too tightly, with the tension eventually causing the glass to explode.
It was certainly bizarre to witness.
“We are here for this – to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to withstand the blows and to hand them out.” Primo Levi
That is, until pluto simulposted and saved the day. 
“We are here for this – to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to withstand the blows and to hand them out.” Primo Levi
Hmmm…No exploding glass story here, I present an actual theory:
The glasses were upside-down, I’ll assume the wateryou washed them with was warm if not hot. With the mouth of the glass sealed by the paper toweling, the warm, moist air inside the glass had nowhere to quickly dissipate to, so overnight the warm air cooled and the molocules contracted. Contracting in such a small space as an eight-or ten ounce glass (I’m gonna guess it was a highball glass-tall and slim, 10-16 ounce? An old-fashioned glass is shorter and squatter so there’d be more space for the air.) So yes, the air pressure winds up being different.
Your mom moving the glass suddenly could have disrupted everything, causing the glass to shatter. As well, there was probably a small crack as well, working as a detonator of sorts.
Okay, now that I gave you my theory, here’s a quick story:
Years ago I worked as a part-time floor waxer in supermarkets. We’d get locked in at closing time (10:00-10:30 PM-This was long before 24-hour markets) wax the store, eat stuff, and get out around six. (Usually we’d be dozing on the check-out counters by then.)
So mopping the housewares aisle one night, I see a display of plastic drinking glasses. Unbreakable in big letters.
Pick one up, SLAM it to the floor as hard as I can.
Three aisles later I mop past it.
Unbroken.
Cats are like Baptists. They raise hell but you’ll never catch them at it.
The glass was rather heavy and had a fluted surface. The work “TURKEY” was stamped in the base. And yes, I use hot water to wash and rinse. I’ve sometimes heard a sucking sound when I pick the glass up–if I do it when the paper towel is still wet.
Your mom broke your special glass???
Uke
Oh, we’re funny today, aren’t we?? 
Heck no–we originally had a dozen of the larger glasses and of the smaller ones–about 14 ounces and about 10 ounces. I think it was one of the smaller ones that exploded.
“If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge
Okay. That one made me laugh out loud. If my boss docks my pay I’m taking it out on you, Uke.
…Or the air inside the glass was warmer than the ambient room temperture. Since your mom was picking it up the next morning, the paper must have dried, and the cooler kitchen air rushed into the warmer glass air, and the temperture change made the glass shatter.
Your mention of the sucking sound made me think of this. I’ve heard that sound, too.
Did all the glasses have the word TURKEY stamped on the base? Weren’t there any chickens or roosters?
Cats are like Baptists. They raise hell but you’ll never catch them at it.