What was going on when I was born?

MISGAV AM, Israel, April 7 Israeli troops stormed a children's dormitory on this kibbutz today, killing five Palestinian terrorists who had taken a group of children hostage in a bid for the release of guerrillas from Israeli prisons.

Stock prices fell sharply yesterday in quiet trading amid signs of a slowing economy while inflation remains at a high level. Adding to the market's weakness late in the session was President Carter's announcement that the United States was breaking diplomatic relations with Iran.

A major issue, as important as wages in some ways, has arisen in the 1980 transit negotiations: the argument over what the Metropolitan Transportation Authority generally calls "productivity demands" and what the Transport Workers...

The traffic flow in New York City started off smoothly yesterday, despite fears that the end of most holiday closings and the beginning of a new workweek would lead to heavy congestion because of the transit strike. But in the afternoon, early departures were continuing to create some traffic jams.

AT least a quarter of the world's population of giant pandas appears to have perished as a result of a quirk of nature the spontane ous, genetically programmed dying-out of the two species of bamboo that provide the major portion of the animal's diet.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (AP) Borrowing by American consumers increased and repayment of loans slowed in February, the month before President Carter ordered controls on consumer credit, the Federal Reserve Board reported today.

WASHINGTON, April 7 -- The Federal Communications Commission, by a vote of five to two, authorized today a sweeping deregulation of the telecommunications industry.

TEHERAN, Iran, Tuesday, April 8 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ruled yesterday that the hostages in the American Embassy would remain in the custody of the Islamic militants until their fate is decided by a parliament that is yet to be elected.

WASHINGTON, April 7 The United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran today and imposed a formal embargo on American exports.

The Sun Company offered yesterday to pay $2.3 billion for the Texas Pacific Oil Company, a little-known subsidiary of the Seagram Company Ltd.

The field of ecology usually conjures up images of scientists working in the wild to preserve the intricate relationships between flora and fauna in their natural state. But to Barry Commoner, the environmentalist, cities also represent an "ecosystem" with their own special problems, ranging from petrochemical smog and urban sprawl to the control of stray dogs, rats and cockroaches.

Negotiators for striking transit workers were reported last night to have lowered their wage demand as the talks moved into a new and critical phase. But there was no confirmation from top union officials who were under a self-imposed prohibition on all comment.