What was going on when I was born?

If a first-year hockey fan were relying on the New York Rangers to teach him the jargon of the sport, there would be certain phrases that, until last night, would have been missing from his vocabulary. "Close checking" would be one, "well disciplined" another.

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands, March 2--Eric Heiden lost the world speed skating championship today, gladly giving up, he said, the little myth of invincibility people seemed determined to build around him after his extraordinary Olympic victories.

Over the last five months an anti-Castro group that the Federal Bureau of Investigation regards as the most dangerous terrorist organization in the United States has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings that have taken on global political implications.

When the J.P. Stevens Company, the nation's second-largest textile producer, holds its annual meeting Tuesday, the bitter struggle between management and union is expected to be clearly in evidence.

LAKEVIEW, L.I., March 2--A masked gunman held nine supermarket employees captive in a robbery attempt early today that ended when, trying to flee with two of his prisoners in a police car, he was killed by officers in an exchange of gunfire that left one prisoner critically wounded.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico-- Among the latest expansion efforts within the 14-year-old narrow duty-free zone just inside the Mexican border are clusters of "Little Detroits," established by the General Motors Corporation...

PITTSBURGH, March 2--The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins matched slumps today, and as fate and a 0-0 final score would have it, neither team could break out of them.

LOS ANGELES, March 2--One sign outside Bruce Cockrum's gasoline station in suburban Los Angeles reads "Open 24 Hours." But, during most of the day, another sign near the gas pumps reads "Pumps Closed."

A severe snowstorm chilled much of the eastern half of the nation yesterday, making motoring hazardous and sending temperatures plummeting. At least 25 deaths were attributed to the storm.

WASHINGTON, March 1--The Department of Transportation plans to adopt a regulation that would permit the shipment of radioactive waste through New York City and other places that now prohibit it or otherwise place restrictions on it.

With interest rates on long-term bonds at an all-time high, senior financial officers of the nation's major companies are seeking alternative sources of funds by turning to stock offerings, short-term borrowings from major banks, commercial paper and foreign banks.