What was going on when I was born?

The White House, in return for the support of Southern Democrats from sugar-producing states, reportedly promised that the Administration would no longer oppose a new pricesupport program that would put the Government back into the business of buying and storing sugar. The reported promise was an important factor in pulling Democrats from Louisiana and Florida, two sugar-producing states, to President Reagan's side in yesterday's legislative maneuvering on House approval of his budget package. Support Could Rise to 19.6 Cents New farm bills reported out by the Senate and House Agriculture Committees call for a return to a sugar price-support loan program that would have the effect of propping up raw cane sugar prices to 19.6 cents a pound, almost 4 cents a pound more than this week's free-market price. Until now the Administration has opposed sugar price supports.

A Board of Education computer programmer has been arrested and charged with using school computers to create a race-track betting system and to trace the genealogy of horses that he owns. The arrest of the programmer, who was described by a New York City investigator as ''a good employee and very talented at what he does,'' was announced yesterday. The disclosure came as Mayor Koch issued a directive to the heads of city agencies spelling out restrictions on the use of municipal computers for anything other than official purposes. Employees were ordered to ''remove immediately all unofficial data files and programs from city computer systems.'' An official familiar with the directive said that it came about in part because ''we've been finding people with a lot of little gigs and games that they've been playing.''

A Justice Department official said today that the Government would probably begin deportation proceedings this summer against the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church, on the basis of an investigation suggesting that he and his wife, Hak Ja Han, had violated Federal immigration rules. The immigration authorities said that many members of Mr. Moon's church had also apparently violated the rules by coming to the United States on visitors' visas when they actually intended to stay permanently. The Immigration and Naturalization Service also contends that many members of the church are in this country illegally because they have remained longer than authorized. David Carliner, an immigration lawyer here who represents Mr. Moon, said that the immigration service had been investigating the Koreanborn evangelist and other church members since the early 1970's. However, the lawyer said that he thought the investigation had ended several years ago and that he knew of no immediate plans for deportation proceedings against Mr. Moon.

Judges Stanley Greenberg, left, and Bernard Goodheart of a state court in Philadelphia being addressed by lawyers for Lloyd's of London.

The House of Representatives, after a tumultuous debate, today gave President Reagan his second successive victory by adopting a Republican package of $38.2 billion in budget cuts opposed by the Democratic leadership. A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats again wrested control of the House from the Democratic leadership and prevailed in a 217-to-211 vote. A total of 29 Democrats supported the Republican package. Two Republicans, Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island and Charles F. Doughtery of Pennsylvania, voted against it.

The numbers on the scoreboard, 13 and 0, were not the most significant ones. The Giants had lost to the Steelers, but there was more to it than that. There was a Giant offense that crossed midfield only once on its own, and that was in the fourth quarter. There was a rushing offense that managed just 47 yards, while the Steelers gained 316 yards on the ground and held the ball for almost 41 minutes of the game. The Giants could point to the fact that their three starting linebackers - Harry Carson, Brian Kelley and Brad Van Pelt - did not play, but the Steeler starting backfield did not play, either.

Governor Carey today proposed new taxes and higher contributions by New York City to balance the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget over the next two years. But his plan was immediately denounced by Mayor Koch as ''devastating'' and ''a sellout,'' and it drew a mixed response from the legislative leaders. Mr. Carey said his program would enable the M.T.A. to hold for two years its increase in the 60-cent bus and subway fare to 15 cents and on the commuter rail lines to 25 percent. The chairman of the M.T.A., Richard Ravitch, warned yesterday that bus and subway fares would have to rise to 95 cents in July unless there was some agreement by next week on a tax package.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has warned the transit union that it will withhold $24 million in scheduled cost-of-living wage increases in October unless bus and subway workers produce ''hard money'' productivity savings. John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority, an M.T.A. subsidiary, and chief management negotiator in the productivity talks, said he was determined to achieve ''real productivity'' that would warrant payment of the cost-of-living increases. But the union, he added, has not been willing to go along with management proposals. In an interview, John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, maintained that the union did want to cooperate in achieving greater productivity. But he criticized what he termed the Transit Authority management's resistance to the union's willingness to cooperate in steps to improve service and maintenance.

The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, defended his nation's relationship with Billy Carter today and said the $220,000 given to the President's brother was a loan related to business transactions carried out during two visits, in 1978 and 1979. In a two-hour interview here, Colonel Qaddafi said that the White House had shown ''great concern'' in mending relations over the last six months through the Libyan Embassy in Washington but that Billy Carter had played no role in the dialogue. ''Our representative in Washington, el-Houderi, has initiated contacts with Carter and Brzezinski, and has been in touch with other American officials, calling on them personally or by telephone, which, of course, is perfectly natural,'' the Libyan leader said. Pledge on Palestinians Cited These contacts, Colonel Qaddafi said were a follow-up to a promise, relayed to him in December, that President Carter, if re-elected, would make Mideast policy changes in favor of the Palestinians. (Jody Powell, the White House press secretary, said that no assurances had been given to Libyan officials that President Carter would adopt a more friendly attitude toward the Palestinian Arabs. ''No such message has been conveyed, directly or indirectly, by anyone at the White House,'' he said.)

Hemphin and Linda Roberts of North Carolina/photo of Sue Pate and NEW YORK GIVES DELEGATES DOWN HOME WELCOME James Forte, delegates from Texas By BARBARA BASLER Taking in the crowded sidewalks, the dense skyline, the bustle of tourists and shoppers, and the stream of Seventh Avenue traffic, Marvin Meek, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, declared yesterday, ''It's not much like Plainview, Tex.'' And, while it wasn't quite like Albuquerque, N.M., or Portland, Ore., either, New Yorkers did their best to give a hometown welcome to the hundreds of Democratic delegates who began arriving here yesterday. At Kennedy International and La Guardia Airports and at dozens of hotels, each and every Democrat arrived to find swarms of people prepared to welcome them and direct them. The official greeters ranged from the well-known - Caroline Kennedy welcomed Massachusetts delegates at La Guardia - to the obscure, staff members from the city's Department of General Services and other agencies.

The Supreme Court ruled today that military pension benefits may not become part of a property settlement in a divorce. Since for many military families the service member's pension is the single largest economic asset, the decision placed a significant limit on the financial rights of divorced spouses of military personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom are women. Groups including the National Organization for Women and the Women's Legal Defense Fund criticized the decision as failing to recognize the economic contributions of women who choose ''traditional'' roles as homemakers. Issue of Private Pensions Private pensions are playing an increasingly important role in divorce settlements. The Court has been asked to decide whether Federal law permits private pensions to be divided as community property. The Justices have not yet said whether they will hear the case, an appeal from a Federal appeals court ruling that treated a private pension as community property.

NO one knows how many burglar alarms there are in Suffolk County, but there are days when every other entry on the police blotter is an alarm call. Last year 45,000 of them were false alarms, costing the police 22,500 man-hours and jamming 911, the central number for emergency calls. ''A burglary is a burglary, and no one wants it to happen, but it's not the same as saving lives,'' said Anthony Noto, Presiding Officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, commenting on legislation designed to relieve congestion on 911 and to regulate the use of alarm systems. In its original form, the measure, adopted in December 1979, outlaws all alarm systems that send taped messages to any police number, limits the time any alarm may sound off and fines owners responsible for numerous false alarms.