What was going on when I was born?

Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in a letter made public today by the Israeli Embassy, said that "the whole campaign over the last 10 days" to blame Israel for the massacre of Palestinians in West Beirut was "unbelievable, fantastic and totally despicable." In the letter Senator Alan Cranston, Democrat at California, Mr. Begin said that hours after the killing of Lebanon's President-elect, Bashir Gemayel, he conferred with his colleagues and expressed concern about he possibility of "revenge" against the Palestinians. "I uttered the following words: 'Take over as soon as possible the major junctions between the two parts of Beirut to prevent a revenge on the Moslem population by the Christians,'" Mr. Begin said in the letter, which was dated Sept. 29. "This was the deciding aim of our forces entering West Beirut early the following morning," Mr. Begin said. The next day, Lebanese Christian militiamen were allowed into the refugee camps, and the massacre began almost immediately.

Helmut Kohl, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Party, was elected the sixth Chancellor of West Germany today, replacing Helmut Schmidt after a noconfidence vote in Parliament. After a debate that took an unexpectedly passionate turn, Mr. Kohl was chosen Chancellor with a seven-cote margin on a procedure known as a constructive no-confidence motion, which simultaneously toppled Mr. Schmidt and designated his successor. It was the first time in the 33-year history of the Federal Republic that a Chancellor had been removed by Parliament. Reagan Administration officials expressed satisfaction that West Germany would now have a Government "more in tune with the Reagan philosophy" but voiced uneasiness that West German politics might become polarized. Page 4.

The Teheran radio said many people were killed and hundreds injured when a bomb exploded in Teheran, Reuters reported. Page 3. By DREW MIDDLETON Iranian troops opened a new offensive Thursday night along the Iranian-Iraqi border about 100 miles northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. Last night Iraqi forces were holding their ground just inside Iran and lashed back with counterattacks, according to American intelligence sources.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers throughout the country yesterday to stop using Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules until investigators could trace the source of cyanide-tainted capsules that have killed seven persons in the Chicago area since Wednesday. The latest apparent victim, a 35-year-old flight attendant, was found dead in her Chicago apartment late last night. All seven were residents of the Chicago area. A second batch of cyanide-contaminated Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules was found in the Chicago area yesterday and the manufacturer, the McNeil Consumer Products division of Johnson & Johnson, expanded its recall to include more than 264,000 bottles of 50 capsules each. The recall, one of the largest ever ordered in the phamaceutical industry, involved all bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules from throughout the nation with the lot numbers MC2880 and 1910MD, which were linked to the deaths, and all bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules of any lot number from throughout the Chicago area.

The House of Representatives today decisively defeated a proposed constitutional amendment mandating a balanced Federal budget. The vote was 236 to 187 in favor of the proposal, but that fell 46 votes short of the two-thirds necessary to approve an amendment for consideration by the states. Transcript of news session, page 13. Within minutes of the vote, President Reagan expressed his reaction "of deep, burning anger" and urged voters to register their own reaction in the Nov. 2 Congressional elections against what he termed the Democratic leadership's "stonewalling" and "budget-busting."

It was a strange situation for a high-ranking, well-paid officer of the United States Army. In a small room in a Federal courthouse, he and his wife sat facing creditors and responding to questions. Maj. Gen. Harvey D. Williams, who had heaped loans for two Cadillacs and a second mink coat for his wife onto a staggering pile of debts, had finally found himself in the same financial boat with a bartender in New Hope, Pa., a restaurant manager in nearby Phoenixville, a telephone operator in Essex County, N.J., an unemployed tool grinder in California and hundreds of thousands of others, the employed as well as the jobless, in soaring numbers across the country. Like nearly half a million other Americans this year, they had sought relief through personal-bankruptcy petitions from mounting debts and throngs of collection agents. BANKRUPTCY Third of four articles on business, personal and legal aspects. Explaining the Cadillacs, General Williams told his creditors last May, "We both had to have cars." He was referring to his wife, who had joined him in a petition that eventually foundered on a technically, although it still gave him a respite from collectors.

Governor Carey yesterday announced a shake-up and investigation of the State Dormitory Authority, which invested $304 million with a securities concern that went bankrupt. In a statement released by his office, Mr. Carey said that ''the changes became necessary following the bankruptcy of Lombard-Wall Inc.'' Mr. Carey named George Gould, president and chief executive officer of the Madison Fund, a New York Stock Exhange investment fund, to serve as chairman of the authority. Mr. Gould replaces John B. Johnson, the publisher of The Watertown Daily Times, who will continue as a member of the authority's board. Executive Director Retires The Governor also disclosed the retirement of the authority's executive director, William A. Sharkey, who oversaw the authority's fiscal and day-to-day operations for 11 years. Mr. Sharkey's resignation will take effect Wednesday, but his post is already being filled temporarily by Arthur R. Bates, who had been Mr. Sharkey's deputy. Mr. Bates said he did not know how long he would stay on as acting executive director, but Mr. Carey said that one of Mr. Gould's responsibilities would include attracting ''top-quality financial community experts'' to fill the various vacant posts, including that of the executive director.

It all started here, with a sore throat. Soon three people were dead in two towns, and later four more would die. Anxiety was spreading through Chicago's suburban cities. And a firefighter, Lieut. Philip Cappitelli, monitoring police radio calls at home on his day off, was growing suspicious. He called a friend, Richard Keyworth, a fellow firefighter and arson investigator in a neighboring town and aroused his suspicions. Their self-appointed detective work, matching the characteristics of the deaths, led medical investigators in two cities to the Tylenol link and to today's nationwide recall of 264,000 bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules.

Two Zimbabwe dissidents convicted of murder have been hanged in the country's first executions since independence in 1980, a Government spokesman said today. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe had previously taken a stand against capital punishment on moral grounds.

President Reagan, who strongly opposed the Panama Canal treaties, told President Ricardo de la Espriella of Panama today that he was ''looking forward to a warm working relationship'' between their two countries. Mr. Reagan met with the Central American leader for a half hour during which there was no mention of Mr. Reagan's strong opposition as a presidential candidate to the canal treaties, ceding control of the canal to Panama.

A committee of the Polish Parliament has approved the draft of a new labor law, setting the stage for a debate later this month that could lead to the dissolution of the suspended independent union Solidarity. Although the official press agency P.A.P. gave no details of the draft law in its report today, there is growing speculation that the long-awaited bill could dissolve labor unions that existed before martial law was decreed Dec. 13.

China said tonight that it would launch an unarmed missile into the East China Sea to the northeast of Taiwan and west of Okinawa later this month, and warned shipping to keep clear. The New China News Agency said China asked other countries to inform their ships and aircraft to stay out of the area for their own safety every day between Oct. 7 and 26 from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. local time.