What was going on when I was born?

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company said yesterday that it would cut long-distance telephone rates by $1.75 billion a year, or about 10 percent, on Jan. 1. The proposed reduction is the result of a decision by the Federal Communications Commission that would add flat monthly charges to each telephone bill at the same time as it decreases long-distance bills. The so-called access charges of $2 for residential telephone lines and $6 for business telephone lines will also take effect at the first of the year. Although A.T.& T. called the announced reduction the largest in history, industry analysts and consumer advocates were quick to note that the reduced long-distance charges on the whole would not offset the increased charges from the flat monthly access charges, which are expected to total $3.5 billion in 1984.

To Americans, Canada is towering pine trees, majestic mountains and stalwart Mounties. At least that's the way Canadian beer makers see it, and they say it all adds up to big beer sales. ''Let's face it, people drink images,'' says H. Hollis Brace, president of Molson Breweries International. If so, Molson's image is certainly the strongest of the Canadian products. And with a flurry of award-winning radio ads and its first television campaign now in the works, that image seems likely to grow even stronger.

International Moscow sponsors and supplies the growing role of Syria in the battle for control of Lebanon, according to both President Reagan and Secretary of State George P. Shultz. They made the charge as both houses of Congress held hearings on a compromise formula that would authorize the continued presence of 1,200 American marines in Lebanon for 18 more months. (Page A1, Column 6.) Lebanon's leader visited the beleaguered Army garrison in Suk al Gharb as the stronghold came under another daylong tank and artillery attack from Syrian-backed Druse and Palestinian forces. The Beirut radio broke into a news report to announce that President Amin Gemayel had toured frontline positions. American warships fired salvos for the third successive day. (A11:1.)

Carroll Shelby, the one-time racing driver turned auto designer, put his cowboy boots up on the desk at the Chrysler Shelby Performance Center here and analyzed what went wrong for the American auto industry in California. ''People in Detroit think they're all a bunch of kooks out here,'' he said. ''But what the average Joe in California is looking for is practical transportation. Detroit was still trying to sell big boats that got eight miles per gallon when the imports came in here with well-built, well-finished cars that got 30 miles to the gallon. And then they were surprised at what happened.''

Because of an editing error, an article about the former basketball player Rick Kuhn in Sports Pages on Tuesday incorrectly attributed the statement that his cooperation with the authorities had led to the indictment of another former player, Ernie Cobb. The statement was made by the prosecutor, Edward McDonald.

An article and photo caption yesterday incorrectly identified a Chicago church that offers sanctuary to Central American refugees. It is the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ.