What was going on when I was born?

Five years after her fall, Mrs. Peron is still a rallying point A2 Slaying of West German politician being investigated A3 Pakistan remains unhappy with elements of U.S. aid package A3 Foes of Marcos plan a civil diso- bedience campaign A4 Around the World A7 New and old rivalries and outside meddling imperil Lebanon A8 Government/Politics Reports released on campaign fi- nances of Jersey candidates B2 Legislature delays action on Bos- ton bail-out bill B10 Congress is warned of tax losses if I.R.S. budget is cut B10 Kennedy lists queries for agricul- ture agency nominee D22 General Around the Nation A12 Gains found in white-Vietnamese shrimping dispute A12 Fulton Fish Market inquiry leads to more than 100 subpoenas B2 Ferry captain says freighter in crash did not heed whistle B3 Waste-disposal companies denies charges and fights state action B9 Industry/Labor Pilots' union says new jets need crews of 3 for safety A16 Postal Service to consult on for- mat for contract talks B10 Candidate to lead teamsters denies he is a "crook" B10 Style Fashion Notes C12 Silk, satin and lace: New lingerie boutiques C12 A showcase for Israeli fashions, and a bit of nostalgia C12 Features/Notes Notes on People C9 Going Out Guide C9 Science Times James Brady's recovery: Doctors describe his good fortune C1 Great paintings give clues to the illnesses of the artists C1 An American pregnancy labora- tory claims its first success C1 About Education: Computers in the classroom C1 Bee mites threaten the world's honey production C1 Essay: Dissent and despair among scientists C2 Science Watch C2 Sinkhole in Florida grows still wider C3 Education: struggles of a small medical school C3 Arts/Entertainment "Ah, Men," a musical, at the South Street Theater C7 Hollywood cutting back as writers' strike lengthens C7 "Amadeus" leads Tony race with 7 nominations C7 Soviet playwright rebuked in press for ideological deviation C10 Religious publishing, with broader appeal, is booming C10 David Bradley's "The Chaneys- ville Incident" is reviewed C11 Rothko works are made available to scholars C14 "The Five of Me," film about mul- tiple personalities, on CBS-TV C15 Obituaries Rogers E. M. Whitaker, writer for The New Yorker D23 Bob Marley, leading star of reg- gae music D23 Paul Petroff and his wife, Nana Gollner, ballet dancers D23 Sports Cooney knocks out Norton in 54 seconds of first round B11 Dave Anderson on comebacks by heavyweights B11 How the Islanders and North Stars shape up for final B11 Homosexuality sets off tremors in sports B11 Marvis Frazier wins on knockout in sixth round B12 Mets' Brooks recounts a day to forget B13 Yankees return home to face A's - and Steinbrenner B13 Ryan strikes out 11 as Astros beat Reds, 5-0 B13 News Analysis Richard Eder surveys French election results A6 Drew Middleton on West Germa- ny's problems with its army A9 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A14 Mitterrand, still running Pressuring Prosecutor Korman The dog law, gone to the dogs Topics: animal, vegetable Letters A14 Sydney H. Schanberg: marching against midden A15 Tom Wicker: who's for the hit list? A15 Neil Jumonville: diversity among evangelicals A15 Robert Klein: setting the V.A. right A15

Of the 69 men that the Mets have used at third base since the club was formed in 1962, none ever had a more frustrating inning in the field than did Hubie Brooks on Sunday in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium. Brooks, who played 23 games at third base last September and has played 24 there this spring, seems to have taken over the position. Mike Cubbage and John Stearns have been used only sparingly at third this season.

A Business Day article yesterday misstated the sales plans of the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in the United States.

Bill Brock, the United States trade representative, said today that the United States and Japan had made a significant breakthrough in liberalizing trade in semiconductors, the tiny memory chips that are at the heart of much advanced technology. At a breakfast meeting with reporters, Mr. Brock disclosed that Japan's Prime Minister, Zenko Suzuki, had agreed ''in principle'' at a meeting with Mr. Brock on Saturday to a mutual reduction in semiconductor tariffs, dropping the duty in both countries to 4.2 percent of import value in the next 12 months. Japan now has a 10.1 percent tariff, and the United States one of 5.6 percent for the memory chips. The European Economic Community, whose producers are generally acknowledged to be less efficient than those in the United States and Japan, has a 17 percent tariff and is not a party to the agreement.

International Financial turmoil gripped France after the election of Francois Mitterrand as the first Socialist President since Charles de Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic in 1958. Securities prices tumbled, the franc came under heavy speculative pressure, the price of gold soared, and the Goverment sent additional customs officers to airports and frontier crossings to prevent any smuggling of valuables to foreign havens. (Page A1, Column 3.) American-French amity was stressed by President Reagan in a message congratulating Francois Mitterrand for his victory in France's presidential election. Mr. Reagan said he looked forward to working with the Socialist leader, but he expressed concern about the possibility of Communists being invited to join the Government.(A6:1-4.)

Six weeks ago today, White House Press Secretary James S. Brady was critically wounded by a shot in the head during an attempt on the life of President Reagan. The bullet destroyed a large segment of the right side of Mr. Brady's brain, and even his neurosurgeon, Dr. Arthur I. Kobrine, was initially pessimistic about Mr. Brady's chances for survival. Indeed, for a time television networks erroneously had declared Mr. Brady dead - as indeed he might be, were it not for a web of fortunate circumstances that Dr. Kobrine and others close to the case detailed as they reconstructed in recent days the crucial moments that contributed to what has so far been a remarkable recovery. ''Overwhelming luck'' ranks highest in the list of those circumstances, according to Dr. Kobrine. First, critical time was saved because Mr. Brady did not have to wait for an ambulance. Secret Service agents sped him to a trauma center within minutes of the injury, applying a lesson that doctors learned from wars - get the injured patient to the doctor as quickly as possible. Mr. Brady would have died had he reached the hospital a few minutes later, Dr. Kobrine said. Second, even more valuable time was saved because a brain surgeon happened to be in the emergency room and began appropriate therapy immediately upon Mr. Brady's arrival.

Senator Bob Dole, the chairman of the Finance Committee, said today that President Reagan now lacked majority support on the tax-writing committee for the Administration's proposed three-year, 30 percent tax cut. About half of the 11 committee Republicans ''have serious reservations about 10-10-10,'' Mr. Dole said, referring to the proposed cuts of 10 percent a year for three years. Furthermore, he added, ''only one or two Democrats'' are for it. He also indicated that the committee was unlikely to vote for as much tax relief as the $54 billion bill proposed by Mr. Reagan in February, including $44 billion for the first year of tax cuts for individuals and $10 billion for liberalized depreciation deductions for business, also in the first year.

Bump Wills drove in three runs with four hits and scored a run in leading Texas. Wills got three singles and a double and improved his r.b.i. total to 22 from his leadoff spot in the Rangers' batting order. He is the American League runner-up in runs batted in.

PAINTERS By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD WHEN a physician casts a medical eye on paintings by the great, it may produce little more than bemusement over why Adam and Eve are almost invariably depicted with navels, but in some inspired cases the medical appraisals of art can be revealing of the artists and of the causes and effects of disease. The hands in Renoir's paintings after 1888, it is plain to see, became more shapeless as the artist's rheumatoid arthritis worsened. The broader brush strokes in Dufy's later paintings could be the result of his progressive rheumatoid arthritis. ''At the Moulin Rouge'' contains what may be clues to the disorder that stunted Toulouse-Lautrec's physical growth. In the portrait of himself there and a man next to him, the artist accentuates the shortened jaw, a feature that can be an outward manifestation of pyknodysostosis, an inherited bone condition that causes short stature and a susceptibility to fractures. Toulouse-Lautrec ceased to grow after breaking both legs in the same year as a boy.

FOR the first time an American woman has become pregnant following the insertion into her womb of an embryo that had been fertilized in a glass dish by sperm from her husband, it was announced yesterday in Norfolk, Va. Several pregnancies, using a similar method and leading to normal births, had previously been achieved in Britain and Australia as well as in one unconfirmed case in India. After a year of efforts at a clinic associated with Eastern Virginia Medical School, Dr. Howard Jones, director of the clinic, told a press conference yesterday of his first success.

The United States Steel Corporation announced price increases yesterday for a number of products that reportedly range from 8 percent on bar steel, used widely in manufacturing, to 9.7 percent for sheet and strip, used extensively in the auto industry. The nation's largest steel manufacturer did not disclose the actual amounts of the increases, which are effective in June, beyond saying that they would include a $10-a-ton rise to cover higher energy costs. However, customers reported that the increases would range from $35 to $45 a ton. U.S. Steel said the rises would ''partially offset'' the continued cost increases '' of employment, purchased goods and services and include the energy-related increases on other products.'' Discounting Is Forecast ''They're going for the moon,'' Charles A. Bradford, steel analyst for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, said in an interview. ''It will be very difficult to realize the price increases in full,'' he added. ''There will be discounting and there are indications that orders are softening.''

Three weeks after he was beaten and kicked by a vagrant during a fight in a subway station, a New York City transit police officer is still semicomatose. Doctors at Bellevue Hospital say Officer William Martin, who was beaten on the head with his own nightstick, has suffered brain damage and is listed in ''very poor condition.'' On Rikers Island, authorities are holding the man accused of the beating -Robert Smith, a 27-year-old city drifter with a record of 22 arrests and at least two convictions under nine different names. Tomorrow he will be arraigned in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.