What was going on when I was born?

Late tabulations showed yesterday that Democrats captured 11 more state legislative houses in the elections Tuesday. The results almost wiped out Republican gains in grass-roots rebuilding that had been under way since the Watergate scandals of the early 1970's damaged the party on all levels. Gains in the state legislative houses, along with a gain of seven more governors' offices won on Tuesday, will give the Democrats a commanding margin in state governments. They will control 34 of the 50 governors' offices and both houses of the legislatures in 34 states. By contrast, the Republicans will control 16 governors' offices and both houses in 10 states.

Senator Bob Dole, the Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, declared today that in light of Democratic gains in the House of Representatives the Speaker, Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., should explain how the Democrats proposed to shore up the finances of the Social Security System. Until Mr. O'Neill does so, Senator Dole told a news conference, the bipartisan National Commission on Social Security Reform should delay making its own recommendations. Mr. O'Neill's office and the chairman of the commission, Alan Greenspan, a Republican who was the chief economic adviser to President Ford, rebuffed Senator Dole in separate statements. Long Debate Portended These exchanges continued the partisan debate over Social Security that weighed heavily in the closing days of this year's Congressional elections. They also seemed to portend that legislative debate in the new Congress would be partisan and protracted.

Ansel Adams, one of the masters of American photography, will be recognized in an award presentation at the third annual Fine Art Photography Exposition, which opens this afternoon at 4:30 in the Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Avenue and 45th Street. The three-day event will provide an overview of art photography from the 19th century to the present, displaying works from 45 galleries and dealers in North America and Europe. The nude in photography will be the topic of a special exhibition as well as of a symposium tomorrow at 10 A.M. There will be other symposiums for collectors and curators tomorrow and Sunday from 10 A.M. to noon. Admission: $10 a day ($15 for three days), plus tax. 40 EXPLORERS IN GLASS ART Glass sculpture - ovoids that look like undersea creatures; freestanding, abstract cast glass, and heads made of blown glass - are among the works to be seen in ''Explorations in Glass,'' a show of works by 40 American artists begins tonight, from 7 to 10, at the Craftsman's Gallery, 16 Chase Road in Scarsdale, N.Y. Many of the artists are represented in museum collections in the United States, Europe and Japan. The gallery is near the Crane Road-Scarsdale exit of the Bronx River Parkway, northbound, two blocks from the Scarsdale railroad station served by Conrail from Grand Central Terminal. Admission to the show, which runs through Dec. 11, is free. Information: (914) 725-4644.

The Federal Communications Commission today approved a $5 billion capitalization plan for American Bell Inc., the new American Telephone and Telegraph Company unit that will sell telephone equipment after Jan. 1. American Bell is being created as one of the conditions set by the Federal Communications Commission for allowing A.T.& T. to enter unregulated businesses. By forming the new subsidiary, A.T.& T. will insulate its regulated telephone services from such unregulated operations as equipment production and sales and data transmissions.

The stock market set a record for trading volume, with 149.4 million shares changing hands. But the Dow Jones industrial average fell 15.27 points, to 1,050.22. Analysts said investors were cashing in on Wednesday's surge, during which the Dow rose to a new high of 1,065.49. (Page D1.) With volume soaring, the pressure on stock traders was intense. (D1.) Private economists are more skeptical than Wall Street over the prospects for recovery. (D1.) The dollar rose against major European currencies, buoyed by the American election results. It scored strong gains against the pound, the French franc and the lira. Analysts said foreign exchange traders saw in the election the assurance that President Reagan's antiinflation policy will continue. Gold prices fell in Europe, but rose 75 cents an ounce, to $426.75, in late New York trading. (D1.)

Once-sinful Shanghai now a para- dise for prudes A2 Polish Archbishop back in War- saw after talks with Pope A3 Canada orders extradition of Nazi war criminal A3 Irish Government falls A4 Around the World A5 U.S. assails Israel over settle- ment plans for West Bank A7 U.S. Marines begin patrolling Christian East Beirut A8 Salvadoran calls U.S. envoy's charge unfair A9 Britain denounces U.N.'s Falk- land vote A10 Government/Politics Another Daley is seeking to run Chicago A12 Plan calls for retired judges to- handle minor court matters B4 Washington Talk The White House: After the elec- tion, back to reality A14 Kremlinologists make a habit of watching and waiting A14 Briefing A14 General Around the Nation A12 Biographer delays evidence on charge against Johnson A15 Federal scientists study L.I. school closed by fumes B3 481 arrested or given summonses in drive on subway crime B4 150 arraigned without lawyers in Queens court B4 Former Bergen Democratic chief acquitted in bribery case B5 Lilco proposed a rate increase to pay for its nuclear plant B6 Style The Evening Hours B8 Halston for the spring: Glittering wraparounds B8 A Chinese banquet honors the Mayor B8 Weekend Weekender Guide C1 New dishes at **** restau- rants C1 Theater: Broadway C2 New talents Off Broadway C1 "Twice Around the Park" by Schisgal C3 Dance: Choreographer wants to make things happen C3 Screen: A decade of Cuban docu- mentary films C26 At the Movies C8 A retrospective of Goldwyn films C8 "The Missionary," with Mi- chael Palin and Maggie Smith C7 Michael O'Keefe stars in "Split Image" C4 Music: After 56 years, the origi- nal "Turandot" in Britain C25 Three guitar recitals as diverse as can be C24 Women who sing jazz C12 Judy Carmichael on piano C12 Louise Bourgeois is focus of show at the Modern C1 Painter Mark Tansey has first solo exhibit C19 Auctions C22 Books: "Deadeye Dick" by Kurt Vonnegut reviewed C23 Restaurants C16 TV Weekend C27 Obituaries Irwin Clavan, associate architect of apartment complexes in city D19 Sports Pages Outdoors: A bountiful season for turkey hunters A16 Both N.F.L. sides agree that a wide gap still exists A17 Devils tie Penguins and end 7-game losing streak A17 Slewpy takes Young America at Meadowlands A17 Gretzky finds obstacles in keep- ing up with his pace A17 Miss Monahan riding high in horse-show world A18 Misses Potter and Smith give U.S. a lead in Wightman Cup A18 Scouting: A footracer who might run to the hospital A18 George Vecsey on a quiet pursuit of the World Cup 19 Indians name Ferraro, Yankee coach, manager for two years A22 Plays: Knicks' rookie breaks in the hard way A22 Features/Notes Sports People A20 New York Day by Day B2 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A26 Add SALT to the freeze Not-so-secret war in Honduras Max Frankel: A Soviet shield Letters A26 Tom Wicker: The end of the af- fair A27 Flora Lewis: Television, money and votes A27 Ariel Dorfman: I am not an L, say a Chilean exile A27 Bob Squier: Steer the course, Mr. Reagan A27 James M. Stone, James C. Rosa- pepe: Don't speculate; invest A27

''Once the American people understand the Democrats don't have any ideas, that they don't want to do anything, then we can come in and save the system in a responsible way.''

THERE is nothing like a full-scale exhibition to convey the power and scope of a major artist's work, especially when that work has been seen mostly in bits and pieces over the years. That's the case with the sculptor Louise Bourgeois, who only since the late 70's has been gaining the recognition she has long deserved. Now - at the ripe age of 71 - she is having her first real retrospective, at the Museum of Modern Art (through Feb. 8). Why this delay in official exposure? Well, for one thing, the climate of the minimal decade wasn't right for the kind of personal, idiosyncratic work that Miss Bourgeois produces, notes Deborah Wye, associate curator of the department of prints and illustrated books at the museum, in her illuminating catalogue - also a first for Miss Bourgeois. What makes the show possible, said Miss Wye, who spent six years assembling it, is the art world's drift to pluralism and a new interest on the part of the art-going public in works of more ''emotional'' content.

A table listing the new Congress yesterday incorrectly showed the win- ners of three races. In the Eighth Dis- trict of Indiana, the winner was Fran- cis X. McCloskey; in the Sixth District of Michigan, Bob Carr; in the First District of Minnesota, Timothy J. Penny. All are Democrats.

John Z. De Lorean, the maverick entrepreneur who has been charged with trafficking in cocaine, has been offered millions of dollars for film rights to his life story, his wife, Cristina, said in New York yesterday. The bids, mostly from movie companies, she said, have been turned over to the couple's lawyers for study. ''This whole trial is going to cost us a lot,'' she said in a telephone conversation. ''We have to consider everything. We will need the money.''

A PLENITUDE of fresh new performing talent is brightening Off Broadway, but in most cases the talent is new only to New York. Many of these actors and actresses, young and old, are seasoned professionals who have appeared on a variety of stages, especially in America's regional theaters. Not only has regional theater become a primary source of new plays, but it is also serving the valuable function of grooming actors and sending them - along with those new plays - to the New York theater. This weekend theatergoers may see new talent from Chicago, Providence and Louisville in the invigorating revival of Sam Shepard's ''True West'' at the Cherry Lane Theater; in David Hare's ''Plenty,'' a provocative study of personal and political disillusionment at the Public Theater, and in Jane Martin's ''Talking With,'' an incisive evening of monologues at the Manhattan Theater Club. In addition, there are talented newcomers in Lanford Wilson's ''Angels Fall'' at the Circle Repertory Company, in the sciencefiction musical ''Little Shop of Horrors'' at the Orpheum Theater and on other of New York's smaller stages. John Malkovich is giving one of the outstanding debut performances of the season as an uproarious renegade in ''True West.'' Although this is Mr. Malkovich's first appearance on a New York stage, he is a star in Chicago as an actor and director with the venturesome Steppenwolf Theater.

Six years late and nearly four times its original projected cost, Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center opened yesterday as a municipal hospital in northern Brooklyn and admitted its first patients. With a daily Medicaid rate of $557 a day, the huge, ultramodern hospital is $4 a day more expensive than Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, the most expensive private voluntary hospital in the city and one of the world's most sophisticated hospitals. In a ceremony to mark the opening, Mayor Koch told several hundred people in Woodhull's auditorium that $2 billion in hospital construction in New York City was awaiting state approval. He called on Governor-elect Mario M. Cuomo to do all he could ''to find a proper balance between what we need and what we can afford.''