What was going on when I was born?

An obituary Tuesday on Edwin H. Knopf, a Hollywood film producer who died Sunday in West Los Angeles, omitted the names of his survivors. In addition to his wife, he leaves a daughter, Wendy Cooper of Los Angeles; two sons, Christopher Knopf of Santa Monica, Calif., and Jonathan Knopf, who lives in the San Fernando Valley; his brother, the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, and 10 grandchildren.

Karen, Julie and Jo Ann Loughney from Wayne, N.J., collected their annual souvenirs: a needle each from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and a straw from the St. Patrick's Cathedral creche ''to put in our wallets for luck.'' Miriam Nusbacher from Rochester discovered that while street pretzels may be bigger than when she grew up in New York City, the price can be as big as $1 - ''so you'll have to share,'' she said, handing two to her four children. Paul and Colette Steiner of Paris, in Greenwich Village to hear jazz, were booked solid for their other four evenings: ''Evita,'' ''Dancin','' ''Sophisticated Ladies'' and New Year's Eve at Regine's. As the 12 days of Christmas reached the geese-a-laying and swans-aswimming mark in brilliant weather this week, the world seemed to head for New York. It was time for the annual great-place-to-visitbut invasion -whether for a festive splurge among the luxury hotels and restaurants or a people-watching hike around midtown's holiday spectacle, pretzel in hand.

IF you still have a taste for festivity tomorrow morning, you might consider easing your way into 1982 by going out to one of the special brunches that will be served around town. Fortunately, it will be possible to do so whether your budget is lavish or modest, whether you want to dress up or dress down and whether you are looking for a setting that is spectacular, formal or comfortably casual. Because New Year's Day brunches could not be sampled in advance, the restaurants below were visited in recent months - some for Sunday brunch, others for weekday breakfasts, lunches or dinners, and dishes comparable to those on brunch menus were tried. Stylish but casual is the description that best suits the first group of restaurants, and, not too surprisingly, five are downtown in SoHo, Greenwich Village or TriBeCa, while the sixth is on the Upper East Side. The SoHo Charcuterie (195 Spring Street, corner of Sullivan Street, 226-3545; open noon to 5 P.M.) continues to combine one of the pleasantest settings with some of the most successful brunch dishes in town. This bright and cheerful cafe is an especially suitable setting in which to start the New Year. Although the service is often slow, it is friendly, unpretentious, concerned and polite, and though prices are fairly high, portions are large, and regulars tend to share appetizers and some main courses.

As a service to readers planning their holiday, the New Year's issue of Weekend appears today rather than tomorrow. Home, normally published on Thursdays, will appear tomorrow.

Whether you prefer traditional dining and dancing with champagne at midnight, or entertainment at a jazz, rock or comedy club, or more esoteric celebrations involving magic, old movies or long-distance running, you're sure to find in this issue someplace special to ring in the new year tonight. Here is information about the many places around town that are still accepting reservations - and some that need no reservations at all.

The following dispatch is based on information arriving from Poland. Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Polish leader, has reportedly set up at least three groups to present programs of social, economic, and political reform. The groups are headed by prominent party leaders and represent distinct and potentially rival factions. The Communist Party is still apparently in total disarray after the imposition of martial law, with mass resignations over the past weeks.

The United States remained alone yesterday after imposing sanctions against the Soviet Union for the military crackdown in Poland, but there was little official criticism of President Reagan's actions from Western countries. None of the NATO allies joined in the sanctions, although there was discussion of a meeting of the alliance next month to consider the Polish situation. Japan said it was studying the American measures, and the foreign ministers of the 10 Common Market countries agreed to hold an emergency meeting next week on Poland. Sanctions Called 'Unilateral' West Germany said unofficially that the American sanctions against the Soviet Union were ''unilateral measures'' and made clear that short of a Soviet invasion of Poland there was little likelihood that it would go along with any Western restrictions.

Another round of fare cuts swept the airlines serving Florida from major cities in the Midwest and Northeast. The new cuts, led by Air Florida, brought the cost of flying from New York to Florida to $107 on weekdays and $127 on weekends. Eastern, Delta, Pan Am and T.W.A. matched the lower fares. (Page A1.) Mobil suffered a new setback in its bid to acquire Marathon Oil when Chief Justice Warren E. Burger refused to enjoin U.S. Steel from buying Marathon shares pending possible Supreme Court review of antitrust rulings against Mobil. Mr. Burger denied Mobil's plea because it had not sought relief from a lower court first. (D1.)

The United States, seeking to emphasize Moscow's support of the military crackdown in Poland, accused the Soviet Union today of ''heavily jamming'' the Voice of America's Polish-language broadcasts into Poland. Alan D. Romberg, a State Department spokesman, noted that since August 1980 the Soviet Union has been jamming Voice of America broadcasts in Russian and other Soviet languages beamed to the Soviet Union. He said of the latest jamming, which involves the broadcasts to Poland and began Monday night: ''The refusal by the Soviet authorities to permit their own citizens - and now the people of Poland as well - to know the facts about events in Poland and elsewhere is a renewed demonstration of the glaring weaknesses of the Soviets' own system and of the regime they have imposed on Poland.'' Effort Aimed at Allies The Administration also stepped up its efforts to convince the allies and others that, although the crackdown is being carried out by Poles, the Soviet Union is largely responsible for it. Many European governments have persisted in limiting their criticism to the Polish military Government.

Tomorrow is New Year's Day. Fol- lowing are holiday schedules: Parking - Alternate-side regulations suspended; Sunday regulations in effect.

When Congress enacted the new tax law, top executives were overjoyed that it appeared to include more generous tax treatment of stock options, long a favored form of remuneration. But a new Treasury Department rule has cast a shadow over just how attractive the new options will be. Specifically, the new regulation states that the more lenient treatment approved by Congress may not apply to many existing programs. ''These new regulations may severely restrict the attractiveness of options for most executives,'' said Randy B. Blaustein, tax manager with the New York accounting firm of Siegel & Mendlowitz. ''In fact,'' he added, ''the proposed regs are in direct opposition to the Congressional intent of providing these special options, and should be withdrawn.''

Jean S. Harris's bid for a new trial in the murder of Dr. Herman Tarnower was unanimously rejected today by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court. Voting 5 to 0, the justices said that although she ''did not receive a perfect trial, she received an eminently fair one.'' ''Nothing more is required,'' wrote the presiding justice, Milton Mollen. Speaking for the panel, he rejected assertions that Mrs. Harris's constitutional rights had been violated by prosecutorial misconduct, pretrial publicity, a possibly biased juror and trial errors. Further Appeal Planned The justices were critical of Mrs. Harris's lawyers, saying that they had delayed in seeking access to the murder scene; had complained that the jurors re-enacted the shooting after challenging them to do so; had criticized pretrial publicity, although they participated in it, and had permitted the inclusion of damaging rebuttal testimony by putting Mrs. Harris on the stand.