What was going on when I was born?

GENERAL: Spending for the fiscal year 1982, which begins Oct. 1, would be $695.5 billion, or $41.4 below the amount in the Carter budget. Receipts for that year are estimated at $650.5 billion, with a deficit of $45 billion.

In a bold move that took even Columbia Pictures by surprise, Kirk Kerkorian, the multimillionaire film executive, tentatively agreed yesterday to sign a 10-year peace pact with the giant motion picture company. The agreement in principle - expected to be signed tomorrow - would thus end a two-year battle between Columbia and Mr. Kerkorian marked by extensive litigation, deepening distrust and the prospect of a hostile takeover of Columbia by the West Coast executive who currently holds no titles in the industry despite his large investments. As part of the truce, understood to have been suggested to Columbia by a Kerkorian representative only 24 hours earlier, the film company agreed to buy back Mr. Kerkorian's 2.5 million shares in the corporation for $37.50 each, in cash, plus two-year notes paying 6 percent annual interest and redeemable for $17.50 each in 1983. Because the notes pay only 6 percent interest, Wall Street analysts valued them yesterday at between $12 and $14, giving Mr. Kerkorian a total of between $49.50 and $51.50 a share for his Columbia stock - or a minimum of $123.75 million.

The price of a college education, which hard-pressed parents have long said is going through the roof, has done just that - only there is apparently no longer a roof. As Gertrude Stein said, ''When you get there, there is no there there.'' For 1981-82 undergraduates, tuition charges alone are crashing through the $7,000 barrier for the first time. Total fees, including room and board, are not only shooting past $10,000, but also emerging strong on the other side at such pace-setting schools as Harvard, Yale, Brown, Bennington, Columbia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford.

For all the urgent confidence in President Reagan's address to Congress tonight, his economic program is a bold yet risky venture for both the nation's economy and for the Republican Party that he led to stunning gains last November. Much attention has focused in recent days on the specific numbers and programs involved in the President's budget and tax proposals. But only now have some politicians begun to comment that the new President is staking the Republicans' future on achieving a philosophical sea change in American politics. He is bent, they say, on bringing about a watershed shift in economic thinking and in the structure of government that transcends any specific reallocations of funds.

The Conservative Government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher tonight withdrew its plan to close old coal mining pits. This cleared the way for the return to work by thousands of miners who had begun a widespread strike in opposition to the plan. The Government's decision to cancel its pit-closing program is viewed here as a major reversal of the tough-minded economic program that Mrs. Thatcher has pursued. Her goal has been to force reform of Britain's money-losing nationalized industries that depend on Government subsidies for survival.

Israeli satisfied with progress on settlements A2 Japanese Protestants warn of a revival of emperor worship A3 A Soviet Jew held in 1970 hijacking plot is freed A3 Yadin to dissolve his party in Is- rael A4 Saudis, in gesture to Reagan, free virtually all jailed Americans A5 Around the World A7 Text of State Department state- ment on hostage accords A10 General hints that Turkey wants role in Persian Gulf defense A11 Soviet press says Western radios instruct Polish strikers A12 Spain's Premier-designate woos legislators A13 Salvadoran peasants flee war-rav- aged countryside A14 Ireland is still attuned to radio drama A18 400 intellectuals form group to "struggle for freedom" A19 Government/Politics Massachusetts court overturns limit on financing of abortions A20 Veteran of dairy lobby calmly awaits assault A26 Prospects dim for 50-cent night surcharge for New York cabs B4 Water level rise toughens New York's conservation campaign B4 Reagan to propose revision in Federal pay to civilians B5 President Reagan's budget cut proposals in summary B6-7 City completes sale of $200 million in short-term notes B20 General Around the Nation A20 Deadline nears on fate of Ameri- can seized in Colombia A26 Fire breaks out at new Manhattan hotel on day of opening B3 Industry/Labor A.F.L.-C.I.O. leaders seek a uni- fied front in party politics A28 The Home Section Home Dramatic drop in sterling flat- ware C1 Moving to Manhattan: Design on a family plan C1 A Viennese master's furniture C1 Insert stoves offer fireplace ef- ficiency C3 Pet-proof decorating by know- ing hands C8 For stained carpets and fabrics C8 Hers C2 Helpful Hardware C2 Home Beat C3 Home Improvement C4 Many nurses say 30% of opera- tions are not needed C5 How some women reward them- selves for jobs well done C6 Gardening C7 Plants and pets - the two sides C8 Design Notebook C10 "Found object" furniture at stu- dents' exhibition C11 Health/Science Test firing of Columbia's engines delayed until Friday A24 Arts/Entertainment Vladimir Nabokov's quest for good readers C17 "Hamlet," the opera, presented in French at Carnegie C17 Digital recordings proliferating C18 Alegria's "Crossing Niagara" is staged in Washington C19 Johanson's "Lucy: The Begin- nings of Mankind" is reviewed C21 Paintings by Canaletto are on ex- hibition in London C30 Features/Notes Notes on People A28 Sports Rangers rout Leafs, 8-3 B13 Nets defeat Cavaliers, 110-108 B13 Islanders' general manager says club is facing a shake-up B13 Boys' soccer team scandal rocks Italy B13 Dave Anderson on the Garden, the Yanks and the City B15 Gordie Howe's No. 9 retired by Whalers B17 Knicks beat Sonics, 105-103 B18 News Analysis Steven Rattner discusses Rea- gan's views on inflation A1 Hedrick Smith on Reagan's bold economic policy A1 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 Who has a better plan? What to contain in El Salvador Censors at Fort Apache Letters A30 William Safire: sipping supply cider A31 Anthony Lewis: the price of being civilized A31 Abraham Brumberg: Poland and the 'worst case' A31 Don Edwards: HUAC? In 1981? Today? A31

A review of two Andrzej Wajda films yesterday gave the location of the showings incorrectly. They are at the Bleecker Street Cinema and are open to the public.

President Reagan, declaring that the United States was approaching a ''day of reckoning,'' urged upon Congress tonight a sweeping economic program that would cut the size and drastically change the shape of Government programs enacted in the last 20 years. In a 35-minute televised speech to Congress that gave fresh emphasis to his political philosophy, Mr. Reagan provided the most extensive outline yet of his economic agenda as well as the details of a package that he said would curb inflation and unemployment. In proposing a $695.5 billion budget for the fiscal year 1982 in which there would be a $45 billion deficit, Mr. Reagan asked for budget cuts totaling $41.4 billion in 83 major programs and proposed extensive tax reductions, including an annual tax cut of about 10 percent for individuals over the next three years. Only the military budget is to be increased under Mr. Reagan's proposal. Rise in Military Funds Asked Mr. Reagan asked Congress to increase military spending next year by $7.2 billion over President Carter's request for $181.5 billion. He called for outlays to grow more than 20 percent in the next two years and even more after that.

In Japan, the business of the nation is business. That helps to explain why one of Japan's leading industrialists, Shigeo Nagano, is also a national leader. The 80-year-old executive, who rose to prominence in the steel industry, is the president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce, an activist organization that, by his own count, represents five million small and medium-sized companies. Each employs an average of six workers. When the workers' families are included, 90 million Japanese come under the chamber's umbrella.

JOSEF Hoffmann was an architect-designer and a man of impeccable taste whose furniture and objects reflect his mastery of geometric shaping and his delight in creature comforts. Hoffmann, the cofounder with Koloman Moser in 1903 of the Wiener Werkstatte, was the Viennese craft studio's most prolific designer throughout its three decades in existence. Revival of interest in his designs began a decade ago. What is probably the most comprehensive exhibition of his work in the revival opened yesterday at the Austrian Institute, 11 East 52d Street. It presents more than 100 examples of Hoffmann's furniture, tableware, lighting fixtures, linens, carpets, drawings and fashion asscesories. Most of the work dates from 1900 to World War I - Hoffmann's classic period. .

It was a dramatic turnabout at the United States Steel Corporation - a return to a profitable year. But surprising to industry analysts was the report that even the company's steel division, despite a decline in shipments, was in the black. The company, which reported 1980 earnings of $504.5 million, following a loss of $293 million the year before, has attributed the improvement to sharp manpower reductions, more efficient use of plant and equipment and a high level of capital spending, and stresses that it will continue along this course. The turnabout in the steel division, during a period when industry shipments declined 16 percent, to 84 million tons, and most of U.S. Steel's plants operated at 50 percent capacity, was a dramatic one, analysts said. They recalled that in 1979, when steel shipments had climbed to a robust 100 million tons, the steel division of the nation's largest steel company had lost money.

IF you've been contemplating buying some new sterling for your table, or have been waiting for the right time to replace a few of those spoons that got mangled in the disposal, now appears to be as good a time as any. For many consumers early last year, the idea of buying sterling silver flatware was something of a laugh, and not a good one at that. By Jan. 21, 1980, the price of silver had reached a record high of $50.35 an ounce, and prices of sterling flatware reflected that increase. But by spring, prices began a quixotic descent under the pressure of market regulations,and today, the price of silver seems to be stabilizing around $13.