What was going on when I was born?

The nation's highest military court today struck down the procedures used for sentencing members of the armed forces to death but said the President could remedy the constitutional defect without new legislation. The decision by the Court of Military Appeals granted what could prove to be only a temporary reprieve to Pfc. Wyatt L. Matthews of the Army, who brought the appeal, and the six other servicemen who are now under sentence of death, all imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. The three-judge court held that the military's procedures for sentencing service members to death for murder and rape, used since the capital punishment provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice were enacted in 1950, violated constitutional standards since mandated by the Supreme Court, in particular the requirement that ''aggravating factors'' justifying the death penalty be specified by the sentencing body.

The often-delayed plans to begin production of a 150-passenger version of the European Airbus jetliner received a boost yesterday when British Caledonian Airways announced it would buy seven of the planes for $225 million. Air France and Air Inter, a domestic French airline, had previously announced their intention to buy the plane, named the A320. But the decision to put the airliner into production awaits approval from the four nations whose companies make up the manufacturing consortium, known as Airbus Industrie: France, West Germany, Britain and Spain. The company has never specified how many orders it thought would be needed to convince all the Governments to begin production.

The new Government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir moved swiftly on the economic front today, devaluing the Israeli shekel by a total of 23 percent from its value Friday, raising prices of subsidized foods and offering a plan to protect investors in commercial bank stocks. The measures, to take effect Wednesday, were announced at dawn after an all-night Cabinet meeting that was convened hours after Mr. Shamir was sworn in. But the steps, taken in the face of panicky selling of Israeli currency, also thrust the Government into a new round of political and labor problems. Rush Depletes Supplies The Government halved food subsidies, pushing up the prices of bread and dairy products by 50 percent and frozen meat by 40 percent. Gasoline prices were to go up 23 percent.

''Either we will pay now or we will pay more later.

Texas Instruments Inc. said yesterday that contrary to expectations it will not introduce a new home computer this year. The announcement gave rise to conjecture that the company might be significantly scaling back its home computer plans or even putting in motion plans to bow out of the market, Deep price cuts and a flood of products have transformed the home computer business into a hazardous arena for many manufacturers.. Other analysts suggested that the company might be waiting for the International Business Machines Corporation to introduce its eagerly awaited personal computer, called the Peanut, so Texas Instruments could make its machine compatible with it. ''A decision has been made that for the balance of this year, which carries through the peak Christmas season, there will not be an introduction of a new home computer console,'' said Norman Neureiter, a company spokesman, in response to an inquiry. ''We've decided we will concentrate our efforts on the 99/4A this year.''

Stock prices plummeted yesterday in moderate trading, depressed mainly by a surge in interest rates in the credit markets. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the session down 19.51 points, to 1,265.14. In the previous five sessions, the indicator climbed more than 53 points, primarily due to expectations of strong corporate earnings as the economic upturn continued. The drop in the Dow was its largest one-day decline since Aug. 8, when it fell 20.23 points.

International The new Israeli Government acted swiftly to meet an economic crisis that has led to panicky currency selling. It devalued the shekel by 23 percent, reduced subsidies on gasoline and certain foods and insulated investors in commercial bank stocks from major losses. Government experts said that the moves, which touched off a run on supermarkets and gas stations, will raise the living costs of low-income families by about 12 percent. (Page A1.) A former Japanese Prime Minister was found guilty of having accepted more than $2 million in bribes to arrange the purchase of Lockheed aircraft by Japan's largest domestic airline. Kakuei Tanaka was ordered to pay a fine equal to the bribe and sentenced to four years in prison. He is expected to remain free during the appeals process.(A1.)

In the area of Roosevelt Avenue and 108th Street in Corona, Queens, and in other immigrant neighborhoods around New York, a new industry has emerged in recent years. It is the sweatshop. The shops generally operate in shabby one- or two-story buildings. They are often hot, cluttered, airless places, sometimes with half a sheet strung over the doorway to let in some air but to keep out the sun. The women at the sewing machines and the men at the pressing machines are mostly immigrants, in this neighborhood Hispanic or South Korean. After nearly being eradicated, thousands of new shops like these - garment factories disregarding labor laws and health and safety regulations - have in the last few years opened in New York and other cities with large immigrant populations, according to government officials and experts on the garment industry.

A manager in the stock dividend department of Prudential-Bache Securities was arrested yesterday and charged in connection with the theft of more than $5 million from the investment firm, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The reported scheme, in which three other men were also arrested, involved the transfer of funds from Prudential-Bache to bank accounts controlled by those who were arrested, the F.B.I. said. While disciplinary action is not uncommon on Wall Street, arrests are unusual.

International Arms talks may soon be halted by Moscow, according to Reagan Administration officials. They said that Soviet negotiators in Geneva had threatened privately to cut short the talks on limiting missiles in Europe if the NATO nations proceeded with a deployment of the first of 572 new American missiles in mid-December. (Page A1, Column 6.) Kakuei Tanaka was convicted of having received $2.1 million in bribes to arrange the purchase of Lockheed aircraft by Japan's largest domestic airline. A Tokyo court sentenced the former Prime Minister to four years in prison and ordered him to pay as a fine the same amount as the bribes. Experts said the appeals process could take a decade. (A1:5.)

An article in Metropolitan Report yesterday about changes in the Roman Catholic mass misstated the church's position on permitting non- Catholics to receive communion. Although there are times when they are permitted to do so at a mass, widespread approval has not been given.

A Federal indictment made public yesterday accuses purported Mafia leaders in three Middle Western cities of using their influence to get teamsters' union pension fund loans that enabled them to become secret owners of Las Vegas casinos. They then looted the casinos by removing winnings through skimming operations that created large tax-free sums, which the conspirators distributed among themselves, the Government charges. The indictment, which is a result of a five-year investigation, constitutes the most extensive skimming case the Federal Government has brought in the half century since Nevada began to license gambling as a part of a plan to develop a resort economy. Among the 15 people indicted were men described by the law-enforcement authorities as some of the most important leaders of organized crime in the Middle West, including Joseph Aiuppa of Chicago, Carl J. Civella of Kansas City, and Frank P. Balestrieri of Milwaukee. Skimming Figure $1.6 Million The indictment tabulated $1.6 million that Federal investigators were able to trace, but the total involved was believed to be much larger, according to Federal officials who did not want to be identified.