What was going on when I was born?

John Hay Whitney, master of one of the great American fortunes and a pace-setting leader in a kaleidoscope of fields, died yesterday in North Shore Hospital, Manhasset, L.I., after a long illness. He was 77 years old. A friend once said that for Mr. Whitney ''money has three purposes: to be invested wisely, to do good with and to live well off.'' Sportsman, investor, publisher, philanthropist, political mover and ambassador, he hated to lose at anything, from polo to racing to golf to bridge to investing. Varied Business Interests Mr. Whitney's business interests were diverse. Through his Whitney Communications Corporat ion, he had significant interests, at one timeor another, i n Parade, a Sunday newspaper supplement; Interior Design, a tra de magazine; Art in America magazine; the International Herald Tribun e Company; 25 small newspapers, five television stationsand six radio stations.

''A $250 billion deficit over the next three years is totally unacceptable.'' - Senator Dan Quayle, Republican of Indiana. (B14:4.)

Britain cut prices of its North Sea oil by $1.50 a barrel today, to $35. The cut, a little over 3 cents a gallon, reflected the surplus of oil in world markets and was the biggest by a major oil-producing nation since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries unified its crude oil price structure last October. Today's announcement by Britain's state-owned oil company represented one of the most dramatic of several indications of the continually weakening oil market. Iran was reported by the Middle East Economic Survey today to have reduced its prices by $1 a barrel in the hope of increasing its sales to finance its war with Iraq. Iran's production is estimated to be about 700,000 barrels a day, about half what it was three months ago, although there have been reports that Iran is prepared to increase its production by as much as 2.5 million barrels a day.

Two Republican supporters of President Reagan - Gov. Thomas H. Kean of New Jersey and Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato of New York - attacked his proposed budget yesterday as one that cared more for the military than for people. Governor Kean, following a briefing by his Washington staff, said at a news conference in Trenton that he was upset by the depth of cuts in human services, especially when defense spending appeared to be ''sacrosanct'' and not subject to the same budget-slashing philosophy. Senator D'Amato said in an interview in Washington that the budget was ''totally unrealistic'' and that it had failed to ''tackle the really difficult issues.'' Kean Sees $700 Million Loss ''The human impact of the proposed budget cuts is severe, and it disturbs me greatly,'' Mr. Kean said in outlining how New Jersey would receive about $700 million less in Federal funds during the coming year than during the current budget cycle.

WHITES? By JOSEPH WILLIAMS STRIKING differences in the suicide rates for various ethnic groups in the United States are shown by Government statistics of recent years. Whites are increasingly likely to take their own lives as they grow older while the suicide rate among blacks and some other minority groups peaks in the 20's and then declines. Among middle-aged and elderly Americans, the overall suicide rate for whites is about three times the rate for blacks. For example, the 1978 figures from the National Center for Health Statistics show 40.8 suicides for every 100,000 white men 65 years of age and older as against 12.1 for nonwhites. For white women the rate was 7.9, compared with 3.1 for nonwhites.

Frank Rothman, a top Hollywood lawyer for the entertainment industry, w as named today to head a reorganized Metro-Goldwyn -Mayer Film Company, one of the nation's oldest movie makers. The a ppointment was interpreted in the industry as a vote of no confidence in M-G-M's two top executives, Frank E. Rosenfelt and David Begelma n. Mr. Rothman, whose law firm has been closely associated with Kirk Kerkorian, who controls M-G-M, was named to the newly created post of chairman and chief executive officer of a new entity, M-G-M-U.A., which becomes the parent organization in place of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Company. The company said that under the new arrangement United Artists, which both makes and distributes films, would become of ''equal importance'' in the corporate structure to the M-G-M Film Company, which only produces films. United Artists has been a subsidiary of the M-G-M Film Company since it was purchased last May.

The Administration declared once again today that it was not seeking a military solution in El Salvador but that further military and economic aid was needed there. ''Our goal is not a military victory,'' Thomas O. Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. ''We want to help the Salvadorans prevent the insurgents from disrupting the political and social transformations that are now under way.'' A political resolution is the only solution for El Salvador, said Mr. Enders, who was testifying on the White House decision to certify that the Government of El Salvador was making enough progress on political and human rights to warrant continued United States aid.

Tuition costs are rising at four major private universities as a result of reduced Federal aid for higher education, inflation and the increasing costs of giving financial aid to students. Yale University will raise its fees by 14 percent, bringing the cost of a Yale education from $10,340 a year, to $11,790. Princeton's costs will rise 15 percent, from $9,994 a year to a total of $11,468. And Harvard University projects a tuition, room and board increase of between 11 and 15 percent from its present combined costs of $10,540 a year.

SCHOLAR By GENE I. MAEROFF DR. CLARA ALEXANDER, an English professor at Medgar Evers College in Queens, part of the City University of New York, is studying computer science, a field in which enrollments are booming while majors in her own discipline are becoming an endangered species. She is one of about two dozen faculty members, mostly from areas of low enrollment, learning the rudiments of some of the most popular fields in higher education - computer science, data processing and basic writing - so that they can teach introductory courses in those fields. ''I don't expect to move out of English totally, but I am not averse to change,'' said Dr. Alexander, who has tenure and is 52 years old. ''I believe in growing and I don't want to develop a civil service mentality.''

Britain cut prices of its North Sea oil by $1.50 a barrel, to $35. The reduction, reflecting the world oil surplus, was the most substantial one by an oil producing nation since OPEC unified its oil price structure last October. The OPEC move was meant to help eliminate the surplus, but since then, because of recession and conservation, oil consumption by industrialized nations has continued to fall short of projections. Separately, Iran was reported planning a $1-a-barrel cut to increase sales of its crude oil. (Page A1.) The 85-year-old rate for moving grain by rail in Canada will be raised if the Government gets its way. The rate, about one-fifth of the actual cost of shipments, has strong backing from western farmers, so Ottawa's Liberal administration is proceeding cautiously. (D2.)

An article in Business Day on Feb. 2 incorrectly stated the ownership of the Scandinavian Airlines System. It is a consortium of airline companies in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

HOPES By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN SEVERAL years ago the idea that some artificial substance could take over even one of the many functions of human blood was no more than a dream of a few far-seeing pioneers. Today, so-called artificial blood, a strange white fluid chemically similar to Teflon, holds the promise of making important contributions to therapy and research. In the United States, clinical trials are expected to begin with Fluosol-DA, apparently the most advanced blood substitute so far, at as many as 16 medical centers. Hospital officials have already approved proposed studies at three - Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, the University of California at Los Angeles Hospital and the Los Angeles County/Harbor U.C.L.A. Medical Center, according to the manufacturer, the Alpha Therapeutic Corporation of Los Angeles, and officials of the Food and Drug Administration. The fluid has already been injected into 490 patients in Japan. The Green Cross Corporation of Osaka, Alpha Therapeutic's parent organization, said that as early as May the Japanese Government may license the oil-derived product for human use, making that country the first in the world to do so.