What was going on when I was born?

The Sports of The Times column yesterday incorrectly identified some basketball players mentioned as potential first-round draft choices. The Georgetown players should have been Pat Ewing, Eric Floyd, Anthony Jones, Fred Brown and Bill Martin. The Houston players should have been Rob Williams, Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, Larry Micheaux and Clyde Drexler.

IT was May 6, 1922, and the Sabbath. That morning Judith Kaplan, who was 12 1/2 years old, took the American Jewish community into new terrain: she became the first girl in this country to undergo the rite of passage known as bas mitzvah. ''At that time it was enough for me to stand on the platform before the ark with the Torah closed, recite blessings and read a portion of the Torah, not from the scroll itself but from a book,'' the pioneer, whose married name is Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, said recently. The historic event took place in Manhattan at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, then the center of the Reconstructionist movement, a segment of Conservative Judaism. Reconstructionism, founded four months before the bas mitzvah by Mrs. Eisenstein's father, Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, became independent in 1954.

In a stirring plea on behalf of a 10-yearold deaf girl from northern Westchester County, a 35-year-old graduate of Brooklyn Law School today became the first deaf lawyer to argue before the United States Supreme Court. With the help of a computerized video display screen, the lawyer, Michael A. Chatoff, who can speak but not hear, communicated with the nine Justices during oral arguments by reading their questions and then speaking back to them. ''This is a tough world, and it is going to be as tough for Amy as it is for every other child,'' said Mr. Chatoff in halting, dissonant speech, as the Justices leaned forward in their seats to be able to hear. ''If she's going to be able to compete she must receive an education equal to those of other children.''

''Like F.D.R., may I say I'm not trying to destroy what is best in our system of humane, free government - I'm doing everything I can to save it: to slow down the destructive rate of growth in taxes and spending; to prune non-essential programs so that enough resources will be left to meet the requirements of the truly needy.'' - President Reagan. (A1:2)

NOW that the season for shad is with us, perhaps it's time that we paid homage to the employee of a New York fishmonger who devised a technique some years ago for boning that delicious fish. Shad has what may be the most elaborate bone structure of any fish. Because of the maddening intricacy, it was looked upon as ''trash'' fish slightly more than 50 years ago.

CAREER By MARIAN BURROS THE French-born chef-owner of La Cote Basque in Manhattan, Jean-Jacques Rachou, has 21 chefs in his restaurant kitchen and 16 of them are American. ''I know this will get me in trouble,'' he said recently, ''but American chefs are better than French. They have a good education. They're smart. They learn fast. They respect you. They really want to learn.'' The Americans at La Cote Basque are part of a burgeoning phenomenon, a new breed of young men and women who have chosen careers in cooking. In recent years their impact has been widely felt: Professional cooking schools, which once went looking for students, have long waiting lists even though the number of schools has increased dramatically in the last five years. Americans are taking over the kitchens of some of the finest restaurants, once the domain of Europeans, most of them French. A few of the chefs are formulating a new cuisine combining classical techniques with American ingredients.

A vote in Parliament on a motion of no confidence resulted in a tie today, prompting Prime Minister Menachem Begin to propose that he and his Cabinet resign. But the Cabinet rejected his request and voted 12 to 6 to stay in office. The vote in Parliament, tied at 58 to 58, came on three motions of no confidence over the Government's handling of recent disorders in the West Bank. But the crucial erosion of Mr. Begin's strength resulted from the defection of some right-wing legislators who are opposed to the final pullout from Sinai, scheduled for April 25. Although the tie did not legally require the Cabinet's resignation, Mr. Begin argued that Cabinet proposals would be hostage to the whims of splinter groups in Parliament unless the Government was reconstituted. Mr. Begin's coalition now controls just half of the 120 seats in Parliament. The opposition Labor Party has 48 but is given no significant chance of attracting support from the religious parties, which hold most of the balance and generally prefer Mr. Begin's politics. The Prime Minister's proposal to resign, which he could have done without Cabinet approval, was opposed by most of his key ministers, including Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Finance Minister Yoram Aridor was the only other member of Mr. Begin's Herut Party to support resignation. After the ministers held an emergency meeting tonight, the Cabinet Secretary, Aryeh Naor, announced, ''The Cabinet has just decided to reject the Prime Minister's proposal whereby he would have gone to the state President and tendered his resignation.''

Mayor Koch warned today that proposed legislation to prevent the dumping of sewage sludge and dredged materials into the ocean would leave New York City without a place to dispose of its sludge and would force the closing of New York Harbor. ''I can unequivocably state that no land sites are available in the New York area for storing these materials in the volumes in which they are produced,'' the Mayor told a joint hearing of two subcommittees of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. The subcommittees are considering reauthorization of the Ocean Dumping Act. Mr. Koch characterized the effects of proposed amendments to the act as ''disastrous'' for the region's economy and environmentally more hazardous than the city's current practice of dumping in the New York Bight.

International A coup in Guatemala was carried out by dissident army officers. They denounced the March 7 Presidential elections as fraudulent, installed a ruling military junta and pledged to restore ''peace and authentic democracy to Guatemala.'' In broadcasts, the group made clear it intended to block the installation of another conservative general as President on July 1. (Page A1, Column 6.) A United States-Nicaraguan accord to resume direct negotiations on their differences as a result of mediation by Mexico was reported by diplomatic sources in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital. The sources said that the talks could begin next week and might be held in Mexico City. (A1:4-5.)

The Koch administration, in a surprise move, has asked the developer of a prime waterfront site on Manhattan's West Side to withdraw his application. The city says it wants to consider an even larger plan, one that would incorporate the construction of a rail freight facility underneath the proposed luxury housing and hotel complex known as Lincoln West. That possibility has been under study by City Hall for years, but various administration officials explained yesterday that they need even more time. They told the developer so in writing less than 36 hours before today's scheduled City Planning Commission hearing on the project, putting the $1 billion proposal into limbo.

President Reagan, accepting an award for humanitarianism that some protesters said he did not deserve, declared in a speech in New York City last night that ''the facts prove'' that he really does care about the needy. ''Today I'm accused by some of trying to destroy government's commitment to compassion and to the needy,'' Mr. Reagan said. ''Does this bother me? Yes. Like F.D.R., may I say I'm not trying to destroy what is best in our system of humane, free government - I'm doing everything I can to save it : to slow down the destructive rate of growth in taxes and spending; to prune nonessential programs so that enough resources will be left to meet the requirements of the truly needy.''

The Reagan Administration reacted cautiously today to the tie vote on a motion of no confidence in the Government of Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the Israeli Parliament.