What was going on when I was born?

TEHERAN, Iran, Feb. 29--An aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini said today that all was clear for the United Nations commission on the regime of the deposed Shah to meet with the 50 American hostages shortly, and sources close to the panel said it expected the meeting to take place in the next two days.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29--The Carter Administration announced today that American farmers would not be paid to reduce their plantings this spring. The decision is expected to save taxpayers about $300 million in the coming year.

BOSTON, Feb. 29--The Atlantic Monthly, the 123-year-old journal of politics, literature and public affairs, will be sold to Mortimer Zuckerman, a Boston real-estate developer, for an undisclosed sum.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29--Congressional sentiment for cuts in Federal spending to help curb inflation appeared to be gathering strength today, nudging even liberal Democrats in the direction of a balanced budget.

BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 29--Urban guerrillas holding diplomats hostage here released their last five female captives today, and in response the Colombian Government took an unspecified step toward negotiating for the freedom of the 30 or so officials remaining.

Prices posted at gasoline stations throughout the metropolitan area show that motorists are paying as much as $1.41 a gallon for gasoline. And retailers are saying that the average price of a gallon of gasoline could reach $1.50 in three months, six months earlier than predicted this week by Federal Energy Department officials.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29--Senator Edward M. Kennedy has once again assessed his faltering campaign for the Presidency and produced a plan for victory that further narrows the scale of his effort.

LONDON, Feb. 29--Britain has formally presented to the Soviet Union a proposal for the neutralization of Afghanistan, a major diplomatic initiative for which it has secured the tentative backing of its European partners, it was announced today.

SALISBURY, Rhodesia, Feb. 29-- Three days of voting for a black majority government ended here tonight with a much larger turnout than expected and with British officials characterizing the balloting in a manner that appeared to reject claims by two major contenders that fraud and intimidation invalidated the result.

IN NORTHERN CAMBODIA, Feb. 28 --Prime Minister Khieu Samphan and Deputy Prime Minister Ieng Sary of the deposed Pol Pot regime made urgent appeals at a secret jungle headquarters for the Western world to forget the past and support Cambodia in its struggle against the Vietnamese invade.

LJUBLJANA, Yugoslavia, Feb. 29 (AP)--Doctors for President Tito issued a short, blunt medical bulletin today, giving no indication that they had stopped the grave deterioration in the 87-year-old leader's health.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 29 (AP)--A Government-appointed commission today blamed racial injustice and official bungling for the Soweto student revolt of 1976 that resulted in a nationwide black rebellion that left hundreds dead.