What was going on when I was born?

Attorney General Robert Abrams announced his opposition today to legalized casino gambling in New York State, reversing his previous stand and making passage of such a proposal doubtful. Leaders in the Senate and Assembly expressed doubt that legislators could agree on one of eight proposed constitutional amendments allowing gambling and then bring the measure to the floor before the Legislature recesses sometime in late June. ''I'd have to liken it to a boxing match, where one of the participants is on the canvas taking a count and when the referee gets to a nine count, the Attorney General comes over and kicks the guy in the head,'' said Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink. ''It's doubtful the participant would get off the canvas after that.''

As a result of conservative challenges now under study by the Reagan Administration, New York welfare recipients might lose out on part of the full 15 percent increase recently approved in Albany. Those challenges could lead to a cut in food stamps that would offset nearly a third of the forthcoming increase. The challenges come from William T. Smith, Republican of Big Flats and deputy majority leader of the State Senate, and Representative Gary A. Lee, Republican of upstate Dryden. Mr. Lee contends the New York plan aims ''to get around the intent'' of Federal food stamp rules. He has told President Reagan he would sponsor an Administration bill to insure that the Federal Government is not ''duped.''

THE 1850 house in Harlem is in the French Second Empire style. The 1840 house on Staten Island is in the English Gothic Revival style. But the most interesting thing about these two houses is their survival while most similar houses throughout the city have been demolished in nearly a century and a half of urban development. ''In their day, neither house was very unusual,'' said Andrew Dolkart, a preservationist with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, ''but their surviving, in such good repair, is remarkable.''

Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, said yesterday that the kingdom would ask OPEC to freeze prices at their current level through 1982. Sheik Yamani also said the kingdom would ask for moderate price increases thereafter by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Saudi official's remarks were the strongest indication yet of what Saudi Arabia would recommend to other OPEC nations when the 13 meet in Geneva on Monday. His comments seemed to represent a retreat from his earlier demands that other OPEC members cut prices, according to petroleum analysts and company officials.

Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Hafez al-Assad of Syria today exchanged sharp public criticism of each other's policies on Lebanon, but both said Philip C. Habib, the special American envoy, should continue his efforts to ease the tension between their countries. The Israeli Cabinet also decided that diplomatic efforts should be pressed to avoid an Israeli-Syrian clash over Syria's deployment of antiaircraft missiles in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon. Israel has demanded that the missiles be removed and has threatened to destroy them if they are not. Mr. Begin, who briefed the Cabinet today on his talks with Mr. Habib, said after a second meeting with the Ameridiplomatic efforts as long as there is a ray of hope for a peaceful solution.''

A Federal indictment against James Mitchell Newman, a securities trader, was dismissed yesterday. He is one of four men who were accused of profiting on stock trades between 1974 and 1977 by obtaining secret information about corporate merger negotiations from Morgan Stanley & Company. Judge Charles S. Haight Jr., of the United States District Court in Manhattan, agreed with one of four points presented in Mr. Newman's defense. This argument was that laws prohibiting trading on the basis of ''insider'' information were not clear during the period of the alleged stock purchases by Mr. Newman.

The decision on Tuesday by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to give blanket landmark protection to a 1,044-building chunk of the Upper East Side is the strongest pro-preservation stance the city has taken since it went to the United States Supreme Court to argue on behalf of the saving of the Grand Central Terminal. It will not necessarily end a 15-year controversy over the development of the Upper East Side, since the debate that preceded the commission's vote is almost certain to spill over into the Board of Estimate, which by law must ratify the panel's actions within 90 days. But it does place the Koch administration squarely on the side of preservation, rather than development, of some of the city's most expensive real estate. The Upper East Side Historic District, which covers most of the blocks between 61st and 79th Streets and Fifth and Lexington Avenues, will not by any means be the city's largest landmark district. The historic districts of Greenwich Village, Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights are all substantially bigger.

The Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching and research arm of the Harvard Medical School, has accepted $50 million from an international chemical company to pursue basic research in molecular biology in the next 10 years. In return, the company, Hoechst A.G. of Frankfurt, West Germany, will have an opportunity to capitalize on research findings before others learn of the results and to obtain exclusive licenses to develop commercial products. The contract, believed to involve the largest grant ever given to an American academic institution for a specific area of research, is an example of an emerging trend in independent basic research: the increasing dependence upon industrial sources for funds when Federal support is ever harder to obtain. Vast Potential Profits Commercial interest in basic molecular biology has exploded in the last year with the development of genetic techniques that permit the production of large quantities of potentially valuable therapeutic substances, such as insulin, growth hormone, interferon and highly specific antibodies. Research with recombinant DNA, as the technique is called, has a great potential for profitable application, particularly in medicine, agriculture and the chemical industry.

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company yesterday specified the electronic characteristics it wants in systems using phone lines to display printed and graphic information on home television sets. Because of A.T.& T.'s size and active interest in the new information-handling technology, known as videotex, its standards are expected to influence the design of television sets, peripheral equipment, programming and data bases that constitute the building blocks of competing videotex systems. Standardization, in turn, should spur growth of videotex by increasing the variety of services available to consumers. Experts say videotex equipment and services will become a multibillion-dollar market during the 1990s.

In banking there is a saying that if a bank lends you less than a million dollars the bank has leverage over you, but if it lends you more than a million dollars you have leverage over the bank. Nowhere is the adage more apt than in the case of Poland today. This year's most sensational debtor, Poland has amassed some $27 billion in foreign loans, including some $15 billion owed to private banks and roughly $10 billion owed to governments. Thanks to a disastrous combination of economic mismanagement and political upheaval, which left the country's mines and factories idle for much of the past year, Poland is now unable to pay even the interest on much of what it owes. Despite Poland's near-bankruptcy, however, government creditors are still reluctantly supplying it sizable amounts of credit.

The Administration today proposed a significant relaxation of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was intended to prevent American companies from bribing foreign officials. The Administration argued that the existing legislation was making it difficult for the United States to compete in foreign markets. The Administration's recommendations - which went beyond proposals already being considered in Congress to loosen the provisions of the 1977 act -would eliminate accounting regulations enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission that require publicly owned corporations to keep accurate books and records on all transactions. A narrower category of offenses would fall under the bribery section enforced by the Justice Department.

Resilient Salvadorans adjust to the horrors of war A2 Arms scandal shakes Costa Rican Government A3 Haig cancels visit to Japan next month A4 West Germans scrutinize militancy among Turkish workers A6 Around the World A7 Schmidt arrives in U.S. to press for speed on arms talks A8 French youths bid farewell to Giscard on his last day in office A12 U.S. encouraged by extension of Habib mission A13 East Germans denounce Polish party's leadership A14 Syrian leader says Habib is welcome to continue peace mission A17 Government/Politics Two U.S. aides resigning over baby-formula vote A9 Annual financial disclosure statements of senators released A22 Compromise on "item pricing" reached by Albany leaders B7 Price increases outpaced New York City workers' raises in '80 B9 Scholars assail move to curb Federal court power B12 General Around the Nation A20 Case of 4 cleared Syracuse policemen leaves bitter aftermath B2 2,000 prison guards expected to attend slain guard's funeral B2 Unfounded bomb threats and scares continue B3 Port Authority celebrates completion of bus terminal extension B3 The City B11 Study says drug use has merged with "normal" college life B15 Health/Welfare Eight prominent doctors testify against anti-abortion bill B12 Home Section Home Furnishings to go for summer C1 Two hardy survivors amid urban growth C1 Althorp, the home of Lady Diana's family C1 How to choose an air-conditioner C3 Handcrafted wood furniture on L.I. C11 Of men and women in the city of angels C1 Hers C2 Helpful Hardware C2 Home Beat C3 Home Improvement C4 Calendar of Events C5 Crib-injured child gets multimillion settlement C7 Designer furs: colors, patterns and flickers of gold C10 Gardening C12 Arts/Entertainment Million-dollar art auction at Christie's proves disappointing C13 American Academy gold medals go to Cowley and Soyer C14 Dance gala for U.S. Terpsichore and U.S. Euterpe C15 Johnnie Ray is back with a new cabaret style C16 New home for Studio Museum C16 Celebration for Soviet physicist held at Kennedy Center C17 On a quest for illustrated classic books C19 The Production Company stages "Missing Persons" C19 Endowment officials learn of possible new cuts in funds C19 Books on foreign policy by Chace and Barnet reviewed C23 Baryshnikov stages all-Petipa Ballet Theater program C24 "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" on WNEW-TV C24 Rochberg finishing his first opera, "Confidence Man" C24 "Heaven's Gate" the most-talked-about thing at Cannes C25 ABC News responds to attack on "20/20" tonight in Chicago C25 Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" is staged C28 Sports Plucknett finds discus record brings no fame D22 Mets end losing streak at 9 D23 Yankees beat Royals, 5-4 in 11; Spencer traded to A's D23 Brooks expected to be new coach of Rangers D23 Knicks obtain Randy Smith D23 Dave Anderson on Islanders-Stars vintage hockey game D27 News Analysis Henry Scott Stokes assesses Japa- nese mood on the U.S. A5 Drew Middleton assesses power of NATO to meet a Soviet threat A15 Paul Goldberger on Upper East Side Historic District B1 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A26 Let's pretend there's a Lebanon The senior Reagan's problem No strings Peter Passell: Social Security Letters A26 William Safire: the new order changeth A27 Anthony Lewis: advice and con- sent A27 Robert S. McElvaine: Reagan's Mellon slices A27 McGeorge Bundy: instead of mis- siles A27