What was going on when I was born?

DEBUSSY first heard a gamelan in 1889 at the Paris World Exhibition, and it profoundly influenced his ideas about sound. Today they can be found at several American universities. In Java, where they have existed in their present form since the 16th century, they are believed to possess kasekten, a supernatural power, and they receive regular offerings of incense and flowers and are often given names. Gamelan is an Indonesian word that is probably related to the Javanese gamel, meaning to hold, and gangsa, meaning bronze. In a generic sense, it refers to ensembles consisting of various tuned bronze gongs, gong-chimes, single and multi-octave metallophones, double-headed drums, small cymbals, bowed and plucked strings (including zither and rebab), xylophone, flute and singers.

In some editions yesterday, a review of the opening program of the New York Philharmonic's Mozart-Stravinsky Spring Series misidentified the tenor in ''Les Noces.'' He was John Gilmore.

''U.S. material support for Britain is illegal and repugnant to the inter-American defense treaty. The future of the inter-American relationship is under threat.'' - Foreign Minister Nicanor Costa Mendez of Argentina. (A8:6)

International Britain opened an offensive from its beachhead at San Carlos Bay against the Argentine troops in the Falklands, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced in the House of Commons. Unofficial reports in London said that paratroopers were moving south toward the Darwin area and that marines were advancing east toward Stanley, the main island settlement. (Page A1, Column 1.) Argentina reported ground clashes and a series of British air raids on the Falklands and said that one British plane had been shot down. (A9:1-4.)

It was lottery day at the Federal Aviation Administration today, and the proceeding, conducted in a small, dimly lit amphitheater evoked the atmosphere of the National Football League draft or a bingo game. When Braniff International grounded its planes on May 12 to reorganize under the protection of the bankruptcy laws, it left hundreds of takeoff slots vacant. Today the F.A.A. was offering those slots, at airports ranging from Harlingen, Tex., to Seattle, to La Guardia in New York and to Miami, and 65 points in between. The process was simple. Employees drafted from the Civil Aeronautics Board spun a giant transparent plastic drum, then pulled out red capsules. They were opened one at a time, a slip of paper was removed from each, and the names were read: Fleming International Airways, Metro Airways, Capitol International and even Continental Air Lines, and United.

The Government announced here tonight that it would begin soon to sell off its controversial controlling interest in the Canada Development Corporation. The corporation, founded by the Government in 1972 to help increase Canadian ownership in industry, is currently 48.6 percent owned by the Government. But this holdings, which was scheduled to dwindle over time, has caused continued concern among private investors about the role of political considerations in the company's business decisions.

The International Monetary Fund predicted today that world economic growth would remain ''unsatisfactory,'' but warned against using expansionary policies to fight the higher joblessness facing most countries. It also said that debt burdens would bring additional ''serious strains'' to poor nations. In its World Economic Outlook, the 146-nation lending agency said that the crucial question facing policy makers was whether ''sufficient patience'' would be exercised to continue policies of reducing inflation and improving productive efficiency. The 210-page document declared, ''One cannot expect the existing major problems to be handled quickly, easily or painlessly.''

NO matter that the solstice is three weeks away; summer as a way of life starts today. The Memorial Day weekend ushers in the season just as Labor Day snuffs it out, and there are all kinds of ways to get into the spirit over the next four days in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. There are lazy ways, like lying on the beaches - which open tomorrow - or cruising up the Hudson River on the Dayliner - which also starts its season tomorrow. And there are energetic ways - like whizzing around Central Park on foot or on wheels, as thousands of people will do in two marathon events. An amazing assembly: condors, gray wolves, elephants and other endangered animals - or reasonable facsimiles in masks - will trek across town to the park in the third annual All-Species Day Parade tomorrow. Walking tours are planned all over town. And, for milder activity, browsing will be in order at outdoor art exhibitions and festivals.

It is one of the indelible images of history: a Jewish boy, arms in the air and terror in his eyes, standing on a Warsaw street under the watchful gaze of a Nazi soldier. Though others, largely women and children, stand in horror nearby, the boy seems utterly abandoned, his fate seemingly sealed. At the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, in books and films and on letterheads, the photograph appears. Indeed, while the Nazis attempted to cover up evidence of their deeds, it is this picture, taken for a German general conscientiously chronicling his activities, which is perhaps the most enduring exhibit of the epoch. Nearly four decades after it was taken, the photograph is in the spotlight once more. A Rockland County physician, Tsvi C. Nussbaum, now 47 years old, thinks he is that little boy.

For the second time in five months, Japan today announced measures to stimulate imports, mainly by cutting tariffs on such items as computers. The move was in response to American and European criticism that the Japanese market is overly protected from foreign competition. Though modest, the actions were intended to anticipate Western criticism of Japan's growing trade surpluses at next month's conference of seven industrial nations at Versailles, France. In Washington, Reagan Administration officials praised Tokyo's move, but said that many Western objections to the Japanese trade barriers remained unresolved. (Page D3.)

An accountant from the Portland, Ore., office stood up at the annual meeting of the Crown Zellerbach Corporation in the middle of May and brazenly asked why costs at the company's headquarters here were almost double the allowance at the rival Georgia-Pacific Corporation. He got a swift reprimand from the boss. Cross-industry comparisons are ''not productive,'' said an irritated William T. Creson, his voice rising. Productive or not, the outcome for Crown Zellerbach is often embarrassment when it is judged against the competition. The paper and forest products company has long lagged behind the industry norm in profitability and many other financial yardsticks.

The House rejected all three budget plans for fiscal 1983, the Republican version, the bipartisan one and the Democrats'. The vote put the budget negotiations in limbo, and signaled the collapse of the coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats that had brought President Reagan his economic legislative victories of last year. (A1.) The Senate acted to repeal tax benefits it had voted for itself and to end a filibuster against a housing relief bill. (A16.) Deep cuts in personal income tax rates and the repeal of many deductions were proposed by two Democrats. The two, Senator Bill Bradley and Representative Richard A. Gephardt, like many others in Congress, are seeking to simplify the income tax. Their plan envisions a maximum rate of 28 percent, with deductions on charitable contributions and home mortgage interest retained. (D1.)