What was going on when I was born?

International The Export-Import Bank has approved loan guarantees of up to $1.5 billion for Brazil and $500 million for Mexico. The package for Brazil is the largest ever cleared by the agency. Though both are subject to Congressional review, Congress has not rejected such guarantees in the past, partly because they can be used only to finance the sale of American products. (Page A1.) The White House called for another review of the pluses and minuses of easing controls on the exports of oil equipment to Moscow. The move has intensified a bitter policy dispute between Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who favors such an easing, and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, who opposes it. (D1.)

In late July, 24-year-old Yoshihisa Kondo joined an elite group. In the twice-yearly design competition sponsored by So-en magazine, a leading fashion monthly, his design for a flowing cotton skirt and cape won first prize. Now in its 27th year, the So-en contest is widely regarded as the Japanese fashion world's most prestigious talent-spotting event. Kansai Yamamoto, Junko Koshino, Yohji Yamamoto and Kenzo Takada are all previous So-en winners.

International An American-French dispute worsened as the Reagan Administration rejected comments by President Francois Mitterrand criticizing American actions on Chad. Mr. Mitterrand was reported Tuesday to have expressed irritation at American pressure on France to intervene militarily in Chad against Libyan incursions. He was also said to be unhappy at not being consulted at the dispatch to the area of two Awacs surveillance planes. (Page A1, Col. 6.) Libyan military supplies are being poured into a northern Chadian town captured by rebels, according to Western diplomats. (A3:4-6.)

For most people the mention of a swimming pool conjures up a familiar picture: a rectangular or kidney-shaped body of bright blue water surrounded by a small patio of sand-colored cement. For many architects, however, thoughts of swimming pools bring to mind something a bit more exotic: a Mediterranean grotto or a shimmering rock-pool set amid a carpet of thick vegetation. ''The design of pools has changed considerably over the past five years,'' said the architect Chad Floyd. ''Rather than simply dropping a pool in the corner of a backyard, architects are relating more to the geometry of the nearby house and to the landscape.'' Mr. Floyd is one of seven partners in the Essex, Conn., firm of Moore Grover Harper, an architectural practice that designs many residences each year, and, as a result, a good many swimming pools. ''More clients have been asking for pools lately,'' observed Mark Simon, another architect.

The Export-Import Bank, concerned about the reluctance of commercial banks to continue lending to Latin America, has given initial approval to loan guarantees of up to $1.5 billion for Brazil and $500 million for Mexico. The guarantee for Brazil is the largest single package ever proposed by the bank, a Government agency that promotes the sale of domestic products abroad by extending financial incentives to purchasers. The guarantee for Mexico follows two separate $100 million guarantees earlier this year. Review by Congress Because the guarantees are for more then $100 million, they have to be submitted to Congress for review. In the past, Congress has not rejected such requests, partly because the guarantees can only be used to finance the sale of United States products.

''I'll ride them alone, day or night, any time, because I can walk through the valley of death and fear no evil.'' - Ida Friedman, a New York City subway rider. (A1:3.)

The Reagan Administration today disputed comments by President Francois Mitterrand in which he criticized American actions on Chad. In an authoritative article published Tuesday in Le Monde, Mr. Mitterrand was reported to have expressed irritation at what he saw as United States pressure on France to intervene militarily in Chad against Libyan incursions. He was also said to be unhappy at not being consulted on the dispatch of two American Awacs surveillance planes to the area, along with F-15 fighter escorts and other aircraft. ''We just refuse to accept the term 'pressure,' '' the White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, said today in Santa Barbara, where President Reagan is vacationing.

Encouraging economic news and a stronger bond market helped stock prices rise sharply yesterday in heavier trading. The Dow Jones industrial average, which was in the plus column throughout the session, gained 16.05 points to end the day at 1,206.50. It was the first time that the key barometer has closed above 1,200 since July 28, when it closed at 1,216.35. In the overall market, stocks that rose on the New York Stock Exchange outscored those that fell by 1,046 to 576. Turnover on the Big Board expanded to 87.8 million shares from 71.8 million shares on Tuesday, as institutional interest increased.

The White House today asked departments and agencies affected by East- West trade decisions to review once again the advantages and disadvantages of easing controls on exports of oil equipment to the Soviet Union. The move intensified a bitter dispute over trade policy between Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger. The unusual action, which came after a recommendation favoring relaxation had been made only last Thursday by President Reagan's top advisers, was considered a victory for opponents of decontrol, led by Mr. Weinberger. The principal proponents are Mr. Shultz and Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige. Administration sources said that the President's national security adviser, William P. Clark, leaned toward the Weinberger position.

Researchers in the United States and Britain have taken what may be a significant step toward understanding the mechanisms by which cancer develops. They have discovered that at least two separate genetic changes are normally needed to transform normal cells into cancerous cells, a finding that goes a long way toward explaining the process by which cancers take years to develop. Single Change Not Enough The new reports, which will appear in Thursday's issue of Nature magazine, a British journal, indicate that a single genetic change is not enough to cause cancer; it has to be followed by a second genetic change, which may not occur until years later. The new research thus buttresses the prevailing understanding of cancer researchers that the development of cancer at the cellular level takes place in stages.

IN the 1920's and 30's, the sparsely furnished rooms of modern, functionalist buildings were all the more sparsely furnished because pioneer modernists simply had little modern furniture to choose from. The tubular steel chairs by the architects Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe were not commercially available in the United States until the late 1940's and early 50's. Early modernist architects like R. M. Schindler and Richard Neutra in California had to design their own individual pieces or build appropriate furniture into their houses. Today, there is a comparable lag between post-modern architecture and post-modern furniture. And, ironically, post-modern rooms - classically ordered and filled with color, columns and the forms of traditional architecture - are often devoid of furniture when they are photographed for publication. The Princeton, N.J., architect Michael Graves used to shuttle favorite pieces of collected furniture to his post-modern interiors that were being photographed. The New York architect Edward I. Mills of Voorsanger & Mills Associates has designed 45 pieces - chairs, tables and cabinets - that are being specially manufactured for a post- modern house the firm is building in Bel Air, Calif.

It seems cruel. Two New York comedians are booked into the wilderness of Montana and forced to live by their wits, all of their jokes about the neuroses of East Siders and finding an apartment in Manhattan useless to them here. The farthest west that Steve Mittleman and Cathy Ladman, who are both 27 years old and who both grew up in Queens, normally travel is to their apartments on West 96th and West 84th Streets. But they are proving to be a lot of laughs in Montana. In White Sulphur Springs, the attendant at the gas station next to the Buck-a-Roo Bar chuckled and shook his head at the very idea of somebody being sent from back East to make Montanans laugh, seeming to regard it as some sort of Federal humor program.