Rabbit Stew (1979-2012): A Collaborative Timeline)

May 5, 1979: President Jimmy Carter is shot and killed by Raymond Lee Harvey at the Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles. Raymond subsequently claims to have been involved in a four-man operation but given his history of mental illness and sparse information available this is difficult to substantiate...
 
In case anyone is wondering, the title and scenario was somewhat inspired by Bradley Denton's Bloody Bunnies. Most sources put the POD for that one at 1984. However, this seemed like a fairly good alternative explanation for a timeline that could have President Geraldine Ferraro by the mid-1980s, invasive emu hordes in the south and other weirdness - and plenty of opportunity for world building for writers here...
 
Here are some immediate PODs:

May 5th, 1979: Vice-President Walter Mondale is sworn-in as President aboard Air Force One, amid fears of other assassination attempts....

November 6th, 1979: Interim Iranian government Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan is overthrown in an American-backed coup in Tehran, led by Shapour Bakhtiar...
 
October 8th, 1979: Mikhail Gorbachev is hit by a car while visiting Odessa, killing him instantly.
 
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November 2nd, 1979: Over the Edge directed by Jonathan Kaplan starring Matt Dillon, Michael Eric Kramer and Pamela Ludwig makes its hit debut, sparking panic over youth gangs spreading...
 
Sunday, December 2, 1979 -- Republican presidential candidate and former California Governor Ronald Reagan is thrown from his horse while riding at his ranch outside Santa Barbara. The 68-year-old Reagan breaks his right hip and several ribs in the mishap. While Reagan will eventually recover, his recovery is expected to take months and doctors advise against attempting to campaign in the upcoming New Hampshire primary. On Monday, December 17, while seated in a wheelchair at UCLA Medical Center, he announces that "with deep regret but with boundless hope for America's future" he will be withdrawing from the campaign.
 
Here is one for the space-wank people out there:

April 11th, 1980: Scientists at Cape Canaveral, Florida announce the discovery of evidence of fossilized remains of micro-organisms on Mars from the Viking II lander at Utopia Planitia, Mars, sparking renewed interest in the space program....
 
November 8th, 1980: Denis Healey narrowly defeats Michael Foot for the leadership of the British Labour Party.
 
September 5 1979 - President Walter Mondale announces that he will seek the presidency in 1980.

November 2 1979 - Amid rumors of a primary challenge to President Mondale, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) announces that he will not run for the Democratic nomination, and endorses Mondale's campaign.
 
January 3, 1980: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos dies suddenly of a heart attack. Prime Minister Virata is sworn in as President, but, as his predecessor initially did, does not renounce the premiership.
 
September 10th, 1980: Chinese Premier Hua Guofeng maintains his hold on power, after announcing "self-criticism" campaigns in Beijing, China...

September 1st, 1981: Chinese Premier Hua Guofeng maintains his role as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during a vote led by Deng Xiaoping in Beijing, China....
 
May 5, 1979: President Jimmy Carter is shot and killed by Raymond Lee Harvey at the Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles. Raymond subsequently claims to have been involved in a four-man operation but given his history of mental illness and sparse information available this is difficult to substantiate...

On the same day, rumours heighten that Prime Minister James Callaghan, who narrowly survived a vote of confidence 5 weeks earlier, is planning a 'snap election' on the issue of Europe, to coincide with the first European Parliament poll.

NB, this does not contradict

November 8th, 1980: Denis Healey narrowly defeats Michael Foot for the leadership of the British Labour Party.

as Labour would still be in opposition anyway by then... but in a far stronger position to challenge a Tory government with a small majority, which is why opinion swings behind the more electable Healey anyhow!
 
Just to shake everything up:

December 17th 1983: In a four way trade between St Louis, Chicago, and Philly, the following teams would get these players:

Cards: Neil Allen (Already traded to Cards)
Phillies: Ivan Dejesus
Cubs: Keith Hermandez, Ryne Sandberg, Larry Bowa, Dwight Gooden
Mets: Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, Gary Carter (From Montreal)

October 13th 1984: Cubs, thanks to a .314 BA by Keith in the regular season punches out on the Detroit Tigers, thanks to Dwight Gooden's Relegation as Closer working well, setting the record 48th save against Detroit before a crowd of 43,000 in Wrigley Field. Not only do fans storm the field after the ballgame in mass celebration, the loudness of the crowd can be heard by people watching the game at a TV in Comiscky Park.

October 28th 1989- Cubs win again, thanks to new Clutch Pitching of Andre Dawson, Kevin Mitchell, Juan Gonzalez, Jeff Bagwell, and 63 Saves by Dwight Gooden. The next 15 years are filled with at least 5 more World Series Championships, reversing the curse in a terrible direction...

October 25th 1991- Milwaukee can claim its 1st World Series as a Brewer, thanks to the key acquisitions of a Dearborne, Michigan Native named John Smoltz, a resurging and reform Cecil Fielder, Tom Glavine, and the usual suspects gives Milwaukee a 2.0 Game resurgance over Toronto... Beating tbe Atlanta Braves in 6, the Milwaukee Brewers can now score a little vengance on the former Milwaukee partner.
 
Since assassinations and coup d'etats are the big thing:

December 27th, 1979: Afghan President Hafizullah Amin flees to London, England after the Soviets launch a coup overthrowing his government....

May 13th, 1981: Pope John Paul II is brutally assassinated by Mehmet Ali Ağca during a mass in the Vatican City, sparking sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians worldwide...

December 8th, 1980: Former Beatles-member John Lennon survives an assassination attempt by Mark David Chapman in New York City, New York, his wife Yoko Ono is killed in the attack...

October 6th, 1981: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat survives an asassination attempt in Cairo, Egypt...

March 14th, 1984: Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is assassinated by Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) members in central Belfast, sparking sectarian violence throughout Northern Ireland....

October 31st, 1984: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi survives an assassination attempt on her life by a Sikh bodyguard in New Dehli, India....
 
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26 May 1981: Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, is elected Pope, taking on the name Pius XIII, and surprising some veteran Vaticanologists. Some, however, speculate that the cardinals intend him to be a "caretaker Pope".
 
Here are a few more PODs to show that things are different:

July 17th, 1980: President Lidia Gueiler Tejada survives an attempted coup d'etat backed by General Luis García Meza Tejada in La Paz, Bolivia....

September 12th, 1980: Necdet Calp is selected as President by the Turkish Parliament in an effort to prevent a military coup in Ankara, Turkey,....

February 23th, 1981: General Antonio Tejero seizes control of the government in Madrid, Spain in a military coup...

May 30th, 1981: Major General Abul Monjur overthrows the government in Dhaka, Bangladesh in a military coup....

December 13th, 1981: Polish Uprising; Soviet troops enter into Warsaw, Poland, after the failure of Wojciech Jaruzelski to maintain order amidst Solidarity protests,....
 
July 1, 1981: The Indiana Pacers trade talented but aging George McGinnis to Portland for Tom Owens after turning down Portland's earlier offer for the Pacers' 1984 first round draft pick.

June 19, 1984: The Indiana Pacers select Michael Jordan out of North Carolina with the second pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. The Pacers were initially going to draft Sam Bowie, needing a center, but after a conversation with Bobby Knight in which Knight reportedly screamed "If you need a center, play Jordan at center, then!", the Pacers' general manager relented and selected Jordan. The Chicago Bulls select Charles Barkley out of Alabama with the third pick.
 
Here are a few musical PODs:

May 11th, 1981: Singer Bob Marley is hospitalized with acral lentiginous melanoma in Miami, Florida requiring the amputation of one of his toes...

February 3rd, 1984: Karen Carpenter is treated for anorexia nervosa, after collapsing in Los Angeles, California...

January 27th, 1984: Singer Michael Jackson is killed after an electrical fire at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, sparking international attention...

April 1st, 1984: Singer Marvin Gaye Jr., survives a gunshot wound by his father in Los Angeles, California....

February 14th, 1989: Singer Billy Idol is killed in a motocycle accident in Los Angeles, California....
 
January 27th, 1984: Singer Michael Jackson is killed after an electrical fire at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, sparking international attention...
.

What about killing off Michael Jackson earlier? In 1979 he suffered an accident during a dance routine that required him to get rhinoplasty (which itself was somewhat botched, probably one of the triggers for his compulsion). It's not that implausible that it could prove fatal or he wouldn't wake up after the surgery...
 
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