What was going on when I was born?

In a detailed rejection of President Reagan's proposals for strategic arms reduction, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said in an editorial tonight that he was seeking to ''inflict considerable damage on the defense capacity'' of the Soviet Union. In a speech May 9, Mr. Reagan called for deep cuts on both sides in the arsenals of ground-based missiles, which are the backbone of the Soviet Union's strategic, or long-range, forces. He did not mention new United States weapon systems such as the B-1 bomber and cruise missiles. Mr. Reagan proposals, made in a speech in Eureka, Ill., had been rejected previously by the Soviet Union, notably in a speech on May 18 by Leonid I. Brezhnev, who said they were designed to insure ''military superiority'' over the Soviet Union.

A black union runs up against South Africa's railway A2 China frees American accused of spying and orders her out A3 Two leaders of Spanish coup at- tempt get 30-year terms A3 Ex-Turkish Premier ordered freed from prison A4 Soviet tows shipborne antinu- clear group out of harbor A6 U.N. Council postpones vote on Falkland truce resolution A8 Argentine officials belittle the battle for Stanley A8 Argentina appeals to third world for support on Falklands A9 Weinberger acknowledges strat- egy on prolong nuclear war A10 Parley in Israel to go ahead de- spite reported Turkish threats A10 Around the World A11 France to dazzle visitors with Sun King's splendor A12 Reporter's Notebook: A sartorial surprise in Paris A12 Government/Politics Nearly half the nation's bridges termed deficient or obsolete A14 New York enforcing new law on child safety seats in cars B2 Washington Talk Briefing A18 A look at consumer product ex- perts as consumers A18 General Around the Nation A14 Detroit gets ready for its first Grand Prix race A14 California officials irked at South Dakota crime policy A14 Expert describes Hinckley's brain as normal A21 Monsanto announces research agreement with university A21 Synanon suit against TV station settled out of court A21 Conference plans emergency food programs for the hungry B3 Weekend Weekender Guide C1 Great Irish Fair set for Brooklyn waterfront C1 Guide to street fairs around town C14 Theater: Broadway C2 "The Arcata Promise" C3 Dance: Eliot Feld Ballet back in town C3 Ethnic music and dance in Queens C7 Screen: At the Movies C12 "The Comeback Trail," a '74 comedy, at Thalia C10 "Star Trek II," with Ricardo Montalban, opens C12 "Hanky Panky," with Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner C12 "Poltergeist," from Steven Spielberg C16 Music: Summerpier opens jazz series with Billy Taylor C6 Dick Hyman at St. Peter's Church C6 Art: A Golden age of France at Met C1 Wifredo Lam exhibition at Modern C1 Rodin's "Gates of Hell" at Met C21 Auctions C28 Books: Publishing C30 "Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages" reviewed C29 Restaurants C24 TV Weekend C30 Health/Science A new rocket system for the space shuttle is unveiled A21 A new group is formed to study the world environment A21 Industry/Labor Two arrested and 19 charged in sweatshop cases B3 Style The Evening Hours B4 A "king" of night looks north B4 Jewish women assess a decade of religious gains B4 Sports Lakers beat 76ers, 111-101, and lead final series, 3-1 A23 A par-72, 750-mile dream course A23 Yanks get 4 hits and lose to BLue Jays, 3-1 A23 Belmont Stakes draws a field of 11 A23 Miss Jaeger upsets Mrs. Lloyd, 6-3, 6-1, to gain French final A23 George Vecsey on a young jock- ey's life on the fast lane A26 Cameron's target is Evans's world 400-meter record of 43.86 A26 Dan Lloyd rejoins Giants after battling cancer A27 Features/Notes Sports People A25 News Analysis Linda Greenhouse on Justice O'- Connor and federalism A18 David Margolick discusses the visa controversy B1 Martin Tolchin on value and loss to having no budget B7 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 Nine days to learn Blurred choice in New Jersey Peter Passell: a new R.F.C.?Letters A30 William Safire: the two summit Reagans A31 Tom Wicker: meanwhile, back at the ranch A31 Willy Brandt: an East-West sum- mit meeting A31 Harold Lever: after Versailles, the deluge? A31 Jean Daniel: France and Amer- ica A31

The Mesa Petroleum Company, rejected by management of the Cities Service Company in its $1.8 billion bid for a controlling interest, will soon take an offer directly to the stockholders, Wall Street sources reported yesterday. Mesa, they said, is expected to offer much the same terms proposed to Cities Service management - which was $50 a share for 51 percent of the stock if the Cities Service officers accepted it but around $42 a share if they opposed it. Sources close to the situation said the formal offer could be expected before a special meeting of Cities Service directors next Tuesday or Wednesday. Cities Service said earlier that at that meeting its directors would review Mesa's $50-a-share offer, made personally last Monday to Charles J. Waidelich, chairman of the company.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has ordered British commanders in the Falkland Islands to begin their final assault on the Argentine garrison at Stanley as soon as they are ready, Government officials said today. Paratroopers and Royal Marines are already skirmishing with the Argentines on the outskirts of Stanley, which is the islands' main settlement. British artillery is shelling the settlement from the Two Sisters ridge to the west, and reporters peering through binoculars from the summit said they could see the Argentine defenders eating their lunch. Mrs. Thatcher said Wednesday that Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, the Argentine President, could stave off further bloodshed by agreeing to withdraw his troops on an agreed timetable. A member of the British war cabinet added today that her remarks, in television interviews, were intended as a genuine offer to Argentina but that she was not prepared to delay military action while awaiting an answer.

A photograph accompanying the Kitchen Equipment column in The Living Section on May 19 was incor- rectly identified. It showed a Braun electric coffee grinder.

President Reagan, opening his nine-day visit to Europe with a mixture of ceremony and business, met today with President Francois Mitterrand of France. The two leaders discussed the Falkland Islands situation and France's objections to United States policies in Central America. In his first extended public comment since he arrived, Mr. Reagan gave what Administration aides said was a preview of what he will be saying at the conference of leaders of the major industrial democracies at Versailles, beginning Friday. Referring to the high unemployment and high interest rates in the United States, Mr. Reagan said this evening that the change he was trying to bring to the American economy ''has not been without difficulty.'' But he added, that ''we believe economic recovery is imminent.''

International President Reagan was conciliatory in his comments to Francois Mitterrand about the French President's Socialist Government. But by the end of Mr. Reagan's first day of his Europe visit, several issues remained dividing the two Presidents, among them France's objections to American policies in Central America, and differing views on the Falkland Islands war. The two leaders also discussed the war between Iran and Iraq. (Page A1, Col.6.) The Soviets are aiding Argentina by working to help link Argentine radar sytems into a nationwide net to guard against possible British air attacks, according to Argentine official and industry sources and foreign diplomats. They reported that more than 20 technicians were involved in the project under a secret accord between the two nations. Their presence was said to be the first evidence of a Soviet military role in the Falkland conflict. (A1:3-5.)

The Big Three auto manufacturers reported today that sales rose 10.5 percent in the final 10 days of May, mostly as a result of a strong showing by General Motors. The General Motors Corporation, the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation had also reported higher sales in the May 1-10 and May 11-20 selling periods, compared with the similar periods last year. As a result, their sales increased 14.9 percent for the full month, the first such gain since last September. ''Industry figures are beginning to appear like they did in the laborious recovery of 1975, although June sales will have to confirm that,'' said Arvid Jouppi, a Detroit-based auto analyst with Collin Hochstin, a securities firm. He said that sales have been helped by consumers who are starting to replace aging cars.

GREAT painting comes about when people just cannot get on without it. And it gets to be rediscovered and reappraised in much the same circumstances. For proof of both these propositions, we need look no further than the exhibition of ''France in the Golden Age: 17th-Century French Paintings in American Collections'' that opens tomorrow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and that can be seen there through Aug. 22. With major paintings by Poussin, Claude, Georges de La Tour, the brothers Le Nain and many a master less well known, this exhibition is a landmark not only in the history of painting but also in the history of late 20th-century taste. Organized by Pierre Rosenberg of the department of paintings at the Louvre, it cannot fail to be one of the key exhibitions of the decade. As is indicated in the title, the choice of paintings is limited to those already in this country. Among the 50 and more painters who are represented, some are minor and will never be called major. It should also be said that visitors who do not have the catalogue (it costs $29.95 in paperback) may have trouble adapting themselves to the often complicated iconographical issues that are raised by painting after painting.

This once-bustling port city, which Iranian forces recaptured from the Iraqis 10 days ago, is a wasteland of rubble, minefields and abandoned trenches. Virtually no building has escaped destruction. There is no life in the ruins. In October 1980, the Iraqis won control of the main part of the city in house-to-house fighting. They lost it, and possibly the war with Iran, in the 48 hours of May 23 and 24, even though they had turned it into a fortress with a warren of defensive positions and underground passages connecting ruined houses beneath the protection of the debris of the upper floors.

Fifty members of the World Peace Council who were denied visas to attend United Nations disarmament sessions starting here Monday have now been approved for restricted entry, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said yesterday. The State Department said Wednesday that the council was ''an organization with strong affiliations'' to the Soviet Communist Party. It did so in reporting the denial of visas to 348 Japanese as members of a group close to the council. The department acted under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, but said later that it was recommending Justice Department waivers to admit most of the Japanese.

LAST June a million New Yorkers assembled on some grassy turf on the Brooklyn side of the East River to attend the first Great Irish Fair. They had such a grand time that this weekend they'll do it all over again. Tomorrow and Sunday, from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M., one mile of the waterfront -from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge - will be turned into a traditional Irish county fair, an event such as the Ballinasloe Horse Fair or the Puck Fair in Kerry, where people come to eat, drink, listen to the pipers, swap tall stories and otherwise celebrate their Gaelic heritage. Thus the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and Cadman Memorial Plaza will become both a hurling court and a Gaelic football field. Irish music and dance will flourish. Everything from Waterford crystal to tweeds will be on display and for sale. And the waterfront will become an outdoor kitchen featuring such specialties as Dingle Bay pies of lamb, corned beef and vegetables, soda bread, shepherd's pie, bangers (sausage) and beer, Irish bacon and boxty, which is mashed potatoes and onions.