What was going on when I was born?

Burroughs agreed to buy Memorex for $106 million in cash in what was seen as a ''friendly'' merger. The move apparently overtook a Memorex takeover bid by Storage Technology. the offer of Burroughs is contingent, however, on the restructuring of Memorex's debt, which Burroughs would assume. (Page D1.)

A day after Poland's Communist Party issued a sharp warning to the independent trade union over the danger of new strikes and demonstrations, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski was reported tonight to have held a meeting on the situation with senior military commanders. According to an announcement on General Jaruzelski's talks with the Military Council at the Defense Ministry, the meeting was called ''in connection with the increasingly unfavorable and dangerous phenomena within the country's internal situation.'' ''Against this background,'' the announcement on the evening television news said, ''measures were discussed to insure the required level of defense preparedness and security in Poland. Tasks were outlined for the armed forces regarding their participation in the national economy and in fighting speculation and other socially destructive phenomena.''

An obituary of Paddy Chayefsky yesterday gave the wrong time for the funeral service. It is scheduled for 12:45 P.M. tomorrow at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

International A military meeting in Warsaw was reported to have been held by Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski and senior commanders, a day after Poland's Communist Party sharply warned the independent trade union Solidarity about the danger of new strikes and demonstrations over food shortages. The official announcement of the meeting of the military leaders said it was called ''in connection with the increasingly unfavorable and dangerous phenomena within the country's internal situation.'' (Page 1, Col. 1.) The U.S. appeared to be willing for the first time to participate in a global round of talks at the United Nations on the economic problems affecting the third world. A preliminary meeting over the weekend in Cancun, Mexico, set the agenda for a meeting there in October between the leaders of the leading industrialized nations and 14 developing countries. Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. indicated that while the the Reagan Administration was giving priority to strengthening the American economy, it was ''impossible'' to wait for an American economic recovery before dealing with the questions of international cooperation. (1:1-3.)

John S.R. Shad, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, says corporations hurt their image by disclosing too much unfavorable information. He says he intends to try to limit the amount of such information required in S.E.C. public reports. Mr. Shad declares that a positive corporate image is essential for the successful marketing of corporate securities, which he sees as the commission's major priority. The S.E.C. chairman made these points in a recent interview in his office. He also described his personal and political philosophy, its origins on Wall Street and in Republican politics and its strong influence on his agenda for the commission.

Thousands of people on probation in New York City are going virtually unsupervised because of severe budget and personnel cuts in the Probation Department, many probation officers and officials assert. And judges and department employees contend that the quality of presentence reports - another key responsibility for the agency - has deteriorated. Presentence reports are vital for judges in determining punishment. The probation officers say that thousands of people are violating probation rules, with little prospect of their being discovered and possibly sent to prison. Although no analyses have been made, the officers estimate that as many as half the people who are now placed on probation are eventually rearrested for new crimes. Last year more than 43,000 people convicted of crimes in New York City were placed on probation, which is an alternative to a jail sentence.

The Burroughs Corporation announced yesterday that it had agreed to buy the Memorex Corporation, the ailing maker of data storage equipment and audio tapes, for about $106 million in cash. Under terms of the agreement reached by the boards of Burroughs and Memorex, Burroughs, a Detroit-based computer maker, would pay $14.50 for each of Memorex's roughly 7.3 million common shares and assume Memorex's debts, which are estimated at between $250 million and $260 million. The announcement of the ''friendly'' merger accord has apparently overtaken a bid by the Storage Technology Corporation, a Louisville, Colo., maker of computer equipment that last Wednesday offered to acquire Memorex in an exchange of stock valued at about $90 million. Nothing Received in Writing At the time that offer was made, a spokesman for Memorex said the company had not received anything in writing but that it was interested.

The New York City subway system's fleet of R-46 cars was pulled out of service over the weekend so that mechanics could inspect and repair electrical devices that have led to three smoky subway fires in the last four months. Mechanics replaced 500, or about one-fifth, of the plastic mounts that hold the devices, known as current collectors, in place. John D. Simpson, the Transit Authority president, said the 650 R-46-model cars would resume their regular runs this morning on the E and F trains of the IND line, the N train of the BMT line and the JFK Express line.

Negotiations between the Federal Government and the air traffic controllers' union broke off about 2:30 A.M. as the clock moved toward the union's strike deadline of 7 A.M. The union president, Robert E. Poli, left the talks and said that the only Government offer was an ''insult'' to the controllers. He said he was awaiting the outcome of the strike authorization vote, which he said was ''going very well,'' before officially announcing a walkout. A walkout by Government employees is illegal, and the Reagan Administration yesterday warned air traffic controllers that there would be ''no amnesty'' for those participating in a walkout. The Administration added that there would be no negotiations during a strike. Early this morning, the union said that its members were gathering in about 200 meeting halls across the country to register in favor of a strike. Robert E. Poli, the union's president, has predicted that this time he would receive the 80 percent support he needed to call a nationwide walkout.

THE family of baseball and the fans of baseball welcomed Bob Gibson, Johnny Mize and the memory of Andrew (Rube) Fgster to the Hall of Fame yesterday - but added more than a few boos for the officials and players of today. The mood was not spoiled for Gibson, the intense St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, or Mize, a slugging first baseman, or the family of Rube Foster, a great pitcher and an organizer of the Negro National League. But the occasional boos and catcalls from fans, who were standing outside green snow fences, on the lawn of the Hall, were an indication of things to come when the players and the owners go back to business in a week after the long strike. ''The anguish, the pain, of the experience is still terribly fresh in our minds,'' said Bowie Kuhn, the commissioner of baseball, after some boos followed his introduction.

Peter Oosterhuis, an English golfer with 19 victories abroad, weathered late challenges by Jack Nicklaus, Mark Hayes and Andy North today to win the Canadian Open for his first victory on the PGA Tour. The final round resulted in a hairbreadth finish as four players, one after another, got a fingerhold on the lead, only to relinquish it with bogeys. With the par-71 Glen Abbey Golf Club playing unusually difficult, Oosterhuis and Bruce Lietzke were the only players among the leaders to break par, and they did it by only one stroke. Nicklaus, who designed the course, came to the 18th green needing to sink a 20-foot putt for an eagle 3 to tie Oosterhuis, who had finished his round minutes earlier. Oosterhuis, standing beside the green, thought Nicklaus had a good chance to make the putt.

haired ladies who sold chicken dinners from the lawns of Goshen's white churches, and the closest thing to Du Quoin's corn can be found eight miles to the East in the stalls of Ninth Avenue's produce markets. For better or for worse, the Hambletonian Trot has made it to Megalopolis Downs. The megalopolis concept - centrally located arenas that serve broad urban areas - was the original premise on which the Meadowlands race track was built, and at 9 o'clock next Saturday morning its gates will swing open to a new era for harness racing. The Hambletonian, most precious possession of the sport and guarded militantly by a society of 21 men, has been transferred from the bucolic setting of Goshen, N.Y., and Du Quoin, Ill., to the flashy glass-and-concrete temple to parimutuel betting that rises like a phoenix from the Jersey flatlands, within site of Manhattan's skyline. The Hambletonian Society members, with other invited guests, dined last night at the track's plush restarurant, where they sipped ''Hambletonian Heat,'' the new official drink of the race. They will be treated to the Broadway show ''Annie'' on Wednesday, after lunching at Tavern on the Green. Their airplane tickets, hotel accommodations and meals are provided, as well as limousines. Gold lifetime passes to the track were presented to the group. All delivered as promised.