What was going on when I was born?

For Sterling Drug Inc., the makers of Bayer aspirin, the recall of Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol last September presented an unexpected opportunity. Sterling had for years been trying unsuccessfully to break Tylenol's grip on the pain reliever market, and this sudden moment of vulnerability must have seemed just the right time for Sterling to try again. It was also an opportunity for the company to gain a foothold in the aspirin-free pain reliever market, something it has been refusing to attempt in recent years despite a decline in demand for aspirin products. Accordingly, analysts say, Sterling decided to introduce its Panadol drug, a nonaspirin pain reliever sold only overseas for the past 25 years, into the United States next month. ''This marks a significant change in company strategy,'' said David Crossen, an analyst at Smith Barney.

An article Friday in Business Day about oil and gas leases on Federal land for Santa Fe International, a Kuwait-owned company, incorrectly identified a Jewish organization and one of its officials. They were the American Jewish Committee and Alfred H. Moses, chairman of the organization's executive committee.

In a variety of ways, Governor Cuomo has placed decision making in his new government largely in the hands of one person: Mario M. Cuomo. Two months into office, the Governor, working long hours and getting by on very little sleep, is personally making decisions that predecessors delegated to others, both Mr. Cuomo and his staff say. ''No bill will go up, no appointment will be made without crossing my desk,'' Mr. Cuomo said recently. Just last week, layoff notices to some 7,600 state workers were held up for a day so that Mr. Cuomo could personally rewrite them. ''He insisted that it be a more sensitive letter,'' said the Governor's counselor and chief spokesman, Timothy J. Russert.

If you looked at the records, the talent and the history, it seemed obvious North Carolina State had no business winning the 30th annual Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament. Obviously, the Wolfpack never looked. A day after eliminating North Carolina, the defending national and conference champion, in the semifinals, North Carolina State beat Virginia, the nation's second-ranked team, 81-78, today in the final. The outcome surprised most of the capacity crowd of 16,723 in the Omni. It certainly surprised Virginia, an 8 1/2-point favorite here and one of the favorites in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, which starts later this week.

Political action committees representing the banking industry, which is seeking repeal of a new law requiring that taxes be withheld on interest and dividend payments, contributed more than $3 million to the campaigns of most members of Congress, according to Federal Election Commission records. Critics of the repeal effort contend that the large contributions from the bank ''PAC's'' are a major factor in the repeal effort. More than 300 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives and more than half the 100 Senators have co-sponsored repeal bills. However, many members of Congress assert that contributions from political action committees do not influence their votes. Further, the political action committees object vigorously to allegations that their large contributions have enabled them to influence votes on the withholding issue.

Four daffodils were placed in the ring of the lock that held the steel door closed. The shop's owner, Roberta Kaplan, worried by a rash of robberies, had put in the door and an alarm system only a few weeks ago. A bunch of white carnations arrived, then two chrysanthemums. All through the weekend, alone or in twos and threes, friends and Greenwich Village residents came by to mourn Miss Kaplan. On Friday, she became a statistic, one of the nine people slain in New York City that day, one of 20 who would be killed before the weekend was over. In the gray daylight Friday shortly after noon, the 32-year-old shopkeeper was stabbed by an intruder in the store, Arabella, where she sold clothes, mostly of her own making. An intruder entered - probably bent on robbery, the police said - and stabbed Miss Kaplan in the chest and hands. The cuts on her hands, the police said, suggested that she put up a struggle.

When Frances Tyson, a 70-year-old New Mexico resident who owns some Procter & Gamble stock, asked the company to put a resolution on nuclear energy into its proxy materials, she got a visit from two P.& G. representatives. ''They flew two nice men in their company plane from Ohio to Las Vegas, N.M., and back to spend the day snowing this old lady,'' she said. ''I gave them lunch, and we had a very nice day, but they were not very well informed about nuclear energy. Did they convince me to drop the resolution? Oh, they never came anywhere near.'' So, in 1981, Procter & Gamble shareholders voted on the Tyson proposal: that the company stop subsidizing pro-nuclear advertising, use more co-generation and invite Amory Lovins - a writer on solar energy - to speak about alternative energy sources.

In the midst of a severe recession, individuals, companies and foundations gave nearly $60 billion to charity last year, more than ever before. But despite the generous giving, the rate of increase slowed, just as it did in the downturn in the mid-1970's, according to the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel, a leading authority on philanthropic trends. President Reagan has urged Americans to give more to meet community needs at a time when he is seeking to curtail Federal spending on many social programs and reduce the role of government in daily life. He reiterated that policy March 3 in a speech in Los Angeles, declaring that private initiative was ''America's most precious resource.'' He noted that despite the recession, individuals gave $48.7 billion last year, or 9.4 percent more than the previous year.

The first negotiations since the strike against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad began a week ago broke off last night after only three hours. Both sides said they were still far apart on the issues, and agreed that it could be a long strike. ''It could very well be weeks, maybe months,'' said Edward J. Yule of the United Transportation Union, which represents conductors and trainmen. ''I can't say we've made progress,'' said Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The assessments came shortly after three hours of talks - the first since the strike began a week ago - broke off at at 9:25 P.M. The session had been called by the mediator, Arvid Anderson, at the M.T.A. headquarters, at 347 Madison Avenue. No further talks were scheduled.

The Socialist and Communist coalition in France lost more cities in the final round of national municipal elections Sunday. However, it avoided an overall defeat that would have undermined the Government's authority. It did so by increasing its total in popular votes over the first round of balloting last week. The municipal voting, involving more than 36,000 communities, was the first national balloting since Francois Mitterrand's election as President in 1981 and was regarded as a significant test of the Government's popularity. It is the last national election until legislative elections in 1986. The President's term runs until 1988.

One of the most contentious proposals before Congress last year would have required as a condition for selling cars in the United States that up to 90 percent of the vehicle components be made here as well. Opponents and proponents agree that for now the proposal is stalled. Cleared by the House last year, although not taken up by the Senate, the plan was seen as having such momentum that it would surely come up quickly in the 98th Congress. But while the new Congress has been at work for nearly two months, little has been heard of the bill.

There were 200 teachers and administrators and almost as many stories. Dr. Eva I. Kampits's story was about what happened when men joined a psychology class at Pine Manor, the women's college outside of Boston where she is academic dean. The class was told to divide into groups and build towers that would then be judged by height, strength and esthetics, Dr. Kampits said. The men, by far the minority in the class, quickly banded together, ''grabbed almost all the materials and moved to another room.''