What was going on when I was born?

The automatic window-washing equipment that crawls up and down the twin 110-story towers of the World Trade Center has been turned off, and the cleanliness of 43,600 once-glistening windows is being left to the mercies of nature. Ships entering New York Harbor are being asked to top off their water tanks in other ports rather than fill up with New York or New Jersey water. Half the faucets in the Port Authority bus terminal have been turned off, washrooms in the World Trade Center are being fitted with 5,000 water-flow restrictors and 1,600 New Jersey commuter buses, 600 Port Authority vehicles and 300 PATH cars are going dirty. A 20% Cut in Water Usage Is Sought The measures have been ordered by the Port Authority, one of the major water users in the metropolitan area. It has been asked to submit a report today - as have New York City's municipal agencies - to the city's Office of Civil Preparedness to show how it can cut back its water usage 20 percent by April 1.

When Charles L. Brown became chairman of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company two years ago, he quickly established that he would not be bound by telephone company tradition. Instead of moving into the office that for decades had been occupied by the head of the Bell empire, Mr. Brown stayed in the slightly more modest office overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge that had served him when he was president of the company. ''It's brighter here,'' he explained. An appropriate decision, some would say, for the executive with a mandate to bring the Bell System into an enlightened era of competition. In fact, Mr. Brown has already earned high marks for changing the posture of the telephone company. Analysts, Government regulators and the company's directors agree that he has moved the company toward acceptance of the fact that A.T.&T. will no longer monopolize the phone industry. And his competitors say he has healed some of the bitter rifts that have divided the telecommunications industry for a decade.

The National Bank of North America, the nation's 30th-largest bank, reported yesterday that it lost $10.77 million before taxes in the fourth quarter. Because of $10.43 million in tax credits, the bank's accounts showed a net loss of only $345,000 in the fourth quarter of 1980. The tax credits would be meaningful only if the bank were to generate enough taxable income in the future to make full use of them. In the period a year earlier, it reported net income of $2.79 million, including a tax credit of $2.2 million.

Former Gov. Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut, the first woman to be elected governor in her own right in the United States, died here today. She was 61 years old. Mrs. Grasso, who fell ill with cancer halfway through her second term, was pronounced dead at 6:03 P.M. at Hartford Hospital. After surgery for the removal of her ovaries and radiation treatments failed to stop the spread of cancer, Mrs. Grasso announced last Dec. 4 that she would resign on New Year's Eve, and she was succeeded by William A. O'Neill, the Lieutenant Governor. Successor Issues Statement In a statement tonight, Governor O'Neill said: ''We in Connecticut have been most fortunate to have known, worked with and been the beneficiaries of all her good works, throughout her lifetime. She will not be replaced, because she is irreplaceable, nor will she ever be forgotten. My own personal heart is breaking.''

The unsolved shotgun slaying of two hunters in the wooded hills of Orange County in 1952 was reopened today with the arrest of a 54-year-old Newburgh man whose sister, authorities said, broke a 28-year vow of silence to turn him in. The police, assisted by a 94-year-old man who was police chief of Sloatsburg at the time, announced the indictment and arrest of John Youmans, an unemployed construction worker, for the murders of the hunters, Robert Nugent, 43, the Ramapo Town Clerk, and Charles Simpson, 38, treasurer of the North Jersey Trust Company. In a case that stunned residents, baffled authorities and drew wide public attention, the victims, who had been out hunting squirrels, were found sprawled near their jeep on a forest path in the Ramapo Mountains three miles west of Tuxedo on Oct. 26, 1952. The carcass of a buck was found near the bodies, and the police had theorized that the men were slain by a hunter who had bagged the animal illegally, two weeks before the deer-hunting season was to open. Mr. Youmans was one of a number of persons questioned about the crime at the time.

Indications that the Soviet Union and Cuba agreed last year to deliver tons of weapons to Marxist-led guerrillas in El Salvador are contained in secret documents reportedly captured from the insurgents by Salvadoran security forces. The documents, which are considered authentic by United States intelligence agencies, say that the weapons were to come from stockpiles of American arms seized in Vietnam and Ethiopia. Copies of the documents obtained by The New York Times include a report on a trip by a senior Salvadoran guerrilla to the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Eastern European capitals where party officials apparently agreed to provide arms, uniforms and other military equipment for up to 10,000 guerrillas. In the last two months many of the guerrilla arms captured by El Salvador's armed forces have been American-made rifles, mortars, and machine guns. There have also been Chinese-made weapons and a variety of small arms available through commercial channels.

The standoff between the city and residents of Rosedale, Queens, persisted yesterday as determined parents continued to occupy an intermediate-school annex that the School Chancellor had ordered closed. Mayor Koch barred any immediate move yesterday to evict the parents from the annex, which they first occupied last Friday. But there appeared to be little chance that the residents of Rosedale, a small community nestled between Kennedy International Airport and the Nassau County line, would end their protest soon. The Rosedale annex to Intermediate School 231 - in the unused top floor of Public School 138 - was officially closed last Friday. Its 375 students, about 60 percent of them white, were ordered to attend the main school three miles away, where the student body is 98 percent black.

International Washington assured NATO members that the Reagan Administration would make no decision on the possible production of the neutron bomb without ''thorough, prior consultations'' with the allies, according to Administration officials. They said that Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. had advised the allies in messages to disregard comments about the enhanced radiation bombs made by Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger because they did not represent an official position. (Page A1, Column 1.) Soviet criticism of President Reagan and his foreign policy continued in Moscow's press. In an unusually sarcastic commentary, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda asserted that Mr. Reagan suffered from ''the childhood ailments of power.'' (A3:1-3.)

Glenn urges President to block uranium shipment to India A2 Philippine opposition plans to boy- cott presidential election A2 Pakistan becoming a leading sup- plier of military manpower A2 French and West German leaders meet in Paris A3 Israel rejects any American mili- tary presence on its soil A4 Around the World A5 Islamic mediators in Iran-Iraq war to visit Teheran soon A6 Government/Politics White House Notes: Reagan wins with one-liners A13 Navy Secretary urges doubling of shipbuilding program A24 Committee rejects Carey nominee for Industrial Commissioner B1 A dozen would-be governors hop a political train B2 Official calls annuities for survi- vors of U.S. judges inadequate B3 Council approves legislation to regulate funeral homes B3 Was hostages' parade a ticker- tape record? B3 General Around the Nation A8 Commercial salmon fishing in Co- lumbia River fading A8 Rosedale parents refuse to budge in school sit-in B1 Mrs. Harris insists she did not in- tend to kill Dr. Tarnower B2 The City B3 Residents near toxic dump threaten to block cleanup pact B3 Cold delays transportation serv- ices in metropolitan area B4 Inquiry on legal profession is stir- ring battle B7 Features/Notes Issue and Debate: disclosing the names of intelligence agents A10 Notes on People B4 Weekend Weekender Guide C1 Exploring Amsterdam Avenue C1 Theater: Broadway C2 "Piaf" opens at the Plymouth C3 Dance: Villella to explain partner- ing in Eglevsky program C24 Screen: "Fort Apache, the Bronx," with Paul Newman C6 Bronx leaders charge movie image impedes rehabilitation C6 At the Movies C12 "Fear No Evil," about high- school horror opens C22 Music: Broque Opera offers "The Ring of the Fettuccines" C1 Roberta Peters in "Ballo" at Met C3 Ry Cooder at the Ritz C16 Henderson offers songs of Mer- cer at Michael's Pub C16 Bernstein conducts Philhar- monic, Marilyn Horne sings C19 Art: Works of Rudy Burckhardt C17 Whitney Biennial opens C18 Auctions C19 Royal art of Benin at N.Y.U.'s Grey Gallery C22 Books: Publishing C21 "Rat on Fire" by George Hig- gins reviewed C21 "Some Time Ago" by Chester A. Higgins reviewed C21 Restaurants C14 TV Weekend C22 Style The Evening Hours B6 She's 50, and gives a rousing party to say so B6 A day of lobbying for women's rights issues B6 Paper graphics to turn milk car- tons into toys B6 Sports Remaining fight on Garden card is the battle for refunds A15 Rangers beaten by Bruins, 5-3 A15 Sara Simeoni credits her strength for success in high jump A15 Mets ask waivers on Elliott Mad- dox A15 Lou Saban will be named presi- dent of the Yankees A15 Red Smith on the king of the run- ning boards A17 Virginia beats Wagner, 76-69 A18 Jenkins and Streck lead San Diego golf by stroke on 65's A19 News Analysis Hedrick Smith on President Rea- gan's first televised address A12 Richard L. Madden assesses Con- necticut Governor's budget B2 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A22 Energy can be free Convicting the gun law Wrong turns on human rights Hugh Price: minorities Letters A22 Tom Wicker: Reagan and the SALT treaty A23 Les Aspin: Western bankers' leverage on Poland A23 George M. Fredrickson: racial "justice" A23 Stanley Kaish: cutting taxes with- out inflation A23

Pfc. Robert R. Garwood of the Marine Corps was found guilty today of collaborating with the enemy and assaulting a fellow soldier while a prisoner of war in Vietnam 14 years ago. A jury of five Marine Corps officers deliberated two days before returning the conviction. Private Garwood is the only Vietnam prisoner of war to be tried by court-martial on a collaboration charge, and his conviction is the first on such a charge in the armed services since 10 prisoners of the Korean War were convicted 25 years ago. A hearing on any extenuating and mitigating circumstances in the Garwood case will be convened in the next few days and the same jury will decide on a sentence. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment because the court-martial judge, Col. R.E. Switzer, ruled out the death penalty. The assault conviction carries a maximum sentence of six months.

Allen Ginsberg, the poet, and David Amram, the composer and musician, will team up tonight at the Downtown Cultural Center of the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, 111 Willoughby Street. Starting at 8, Mr. Ginsberg will read from his works. Then Mr. Amram's jazz quintet will perform. And then, no doubt, as they have done before, Mr. Ginsberg will read and Mr. Amram will improvise a jazz accompaniment. Admission is $3. Reservations: 596-2222. 'BLACK & WHITE' DOWNTOWN A monthlong film series exploring social encounters between blacks and whites - ''America in Black & White (& Color)'' - begins tonight at 7:30 at the Just Above Midtown/Downtown Gallery, 178-80 Franklin Street, between Hudson and Greenwich Streets. Tonight's show is a triple bill: a short film of a puppet minstrel show; D.W. Griffith's ''The Birth of a Nation,'' that 1915 Civil War epic, with Ku Klux Klan heroes and white actors in blackface, and John M. Stahl's 1934 production of Fanny Hurst's ''Imitation of Life,'' about passing across the color line. Admission is $4. Information: 966-7020.

BIALA, Poland, Friday, Feb. 6 - A 10-day general strike that gripped this southern manufacturing city ended early this morning when the Government agreed to accept the resignations of the provincial Governor and three deputies. The agreement that called off the strike, as of 6 A.M. today, was reached after an hour and 45 minutes of talks that were mediated by the Roman Catholic Church. The talks were attended by Msgr. Bronislaw Dabrowski, an Auxiliary Bishop of Warsaw, who came bearing the outline for the final agreement. It was the first time that the church had become involved in bargaining.