thanks for answers, i want sister g0sh to reply as well :P

What were events leading up to the revolution and how did khomini gather support?
Inflation, and gap between rich and poor. Supression of freedom of speech. The secret police of the Shah too violent. Encouragement of Imam Khomeini to stand up against the injust rule of the Shah.

Why do some iranis prefer shah's tyrannical rule over an islamic government? because they had money and status during the time of the shah and wish to get it back.

How did he die? I heard he slipped and fell in the toilet on the ground. Is this accurate?
cancer.
was shah pahlvi a freind of salman rushdie who wrote satanic verses book and did he support him?
dont know.
what was iran-us relations in shah's time?
US was controlling Shah like a financial and political puppet, as were european countries.
How was religion viewed in iran during shah's rule? supressed, and seen as unmodern - and they tried to hide iran from being an Islamic nation so that it would be more chic to deal with the europeans.

wow all these questions masha'allah yet so lil room. There are many books out on the Islamic Revolution and the events that led up to it. The Shah died of cancer and was buried in Egypt. He was in the US for a while in NY getting treatment but then was kicked out when the hostage situation took place in the american embassy during Carter's presidency. Many Iranian's prefer Shah's rule b/c they are very westernized and not big fans of Islam and many even go as far as to say that islam is the religion of the arabs and not the Iranians. little do they know that Iran was the seat and the fouintain head of Islamic knowledge for a very long period of time. I don't know if The Shah was a friend of Salman Rushdie, but I know that Imam Khomeini had a fatwa against him for the book he wrote astakfirullah. what else, hmm....Religion during the Shah's time was quite interesting. I will say though that during the Shah's time the ppl who were religious were truly sincere and pious and religious, b/c it was not forced on to them. It's very split, b/c many who were not religious became religious after the revolution and then many who were religious before the revolution became non-religious. So it just depends on what kind of family and upbringing you had and how involved you were in society and so forth. There were many details and events that lead to the revolution, and there are many books you can read. I will say that Dr. Ali Shariati was the trigger and the one who began the revolution within the universities and Hussieniyeh with his speeches which revboltuionized ppl's minds and thinking patterns and these in turn paved the way to the growing popularity of Imam Khomeini and his message. I don't know if i missed anything. again Im definately not a pro but I did my best to answer as much as I could.
yallah salaamu alaykum