What was going on when I was born?

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1983 International The House voted to require foreign cars sold in the U.S. to be built in large part with American parts and labor. The measure is aimed chiefly at the Japanese, whose cars now hold nearly 20 percent of the U.S. market. It has little support in the Senate, however, and is strongly opposed by the Administration. (Page A1.) As Bonn tried to unravel the tangled bank deals of Schr"oder M"unchmeyer, Hengst & Company, West German banks installed a management team to run the private firm. The bank's problems, apparently stemming from liabilities incurred by its Luxembourg subsidiary, could be the worst shock to Luxembourg's lending market since the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano. (D1.)

The Governor General of Grenada, Sir Paul Scoon, announced today that he would be appointing members of a broad-based nonpolitical interim government early next week. Sir Paul, who at the moment is the only Grenadian civilian authority here, said at a news conference that he hoped elections could be held within six months but that he thought that they would certainly take place within a year. All Grenadians Can Take Part He said any Grenadian, including members of the former ruling New Jewel Movement or people like Sir Eric Gairy, the deposed and exiled Prime Minister, would be free to take part in the elections ''provided they had no criminal charges against them.'' [ In Washington, President Reagan said that he had conducted a rescue mission, not an invasion, in Grenada and that there was no comparison possible with the ''vicious'' warfare being waged in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. Page A16. ]

United States Navy officials reported today that a nuclear-powered Soviet attack submarine had surfaced 470 miles off the South Carolina coast, apparently because of mechanical problems. ''The sub seems to be experiencing some sort of mechanical problem,'' a Navy official said. ''But we don't know what the nature of the problem is. They aren't talking to us.''

An article in Business Day Wednesday about cruise lines inaccurately located the headquarters of Cruise Lines International Association. It is based in New York.

The Senate, by voice vote, today approved continued aid for covert operations in Nicaragua. The action would provide only $19 million of the $50 million that the Administration sought for covert operations in Central America, mostly in Nicaragua. Those funds are expected to run out in less than six months, and the Central Intelligence Agency would have to give an accounting of the goals and risks of specific covert projects as it sought the rest of the money. The vote followed an hourlong debate that focused on covert United States aid in Nicaragua, which was banned in a House-passed bill. The House bill would provide $50 million in open assistance to help any friendly Central American nation block arms shipments by Nicaragua and Cuba to those seeking the overthrow of a Central American Government. House and Senate conferees will now seek to resolve differences in the two measures, and the Nicaragua dispute is expected to be a stumbling block in the negotiations.

Covert operations in Nicaragua were conditionally backed by the Senate. By voice vote, the Senators approved continued aid for the operations, but only if the Intelligence Committee is informed of the goals and risks of specific covert projects. The action would provide only $19 million of the $50 million sought by the Reagan Administration for covert operations in Central America, mostly in Nicaragua. (Page A1, Column 6.) Salvadoran leftist rebels have taken the initiative in the four-year civil war, killing more than 800 soldiers, capturing 400 and greatly extending the country's contested zone, according to United States military advisers there. They said that since the summer the guerrillas had launched attacks against more than 60 towns and that Government troops often offered little resistance. (A1:3-4.)

The Charter Company said yesterday that adverse publicity about its annuities had increased the rate at which they are being cashed in - to at least $6 million a day from $1.5 million - and had slowed the sale of new policies. However, the company remained adamant that it was financially sound and said it would have no trouble meeting demands to return to investors their premium payments with interest. ''The cash is there to pay all surrenders, and we will pay all surrenders,'' said J. Dix Druce, chairman and chief executive officer of Charter Security Life Insurance companies, Charter's insurance subsidiaries. ''We are making money on every surrender,'' he added in an interview, referring to the penalty that most Charter investors must pay for cashing in their policies before maturity.

On the theory that an archivist's jetsam may be an antiquary's gem, New York City sold off some colorful pieces of its past last night. It may be the first time the city has rifled its own dusty corners in a search for relics to put on the block. The auction was meant to draw attention and money to the Municipal Archives. Up for bidding were a councilman's desk and chair, saloon licenses, bonds to build and rebuild Central Park and checks endorsed by William Marcy (Boss) Tweed.

The General Motors Corporation today displayed the prototype of a small car intended to someday match similar Japanese cars in cost and match or exceed them in quality. G.M.'s slickly packaged glimpse of its so-called Saturn Project - a subcompact to be manufactured late in the 1980's - was evidently intended to refute charges by competitors and the United Automobile Workers union that the company was planning to stop making small cars altogether in the United States because it couldn't develop a subcompact competitive with Japanese cars. G.M. officials said they anticipate that a new manufacturing system they have designed to produce the Saturn car will cut production costs sufficiently to bring them close to those of the Japanese. One executive noted that because it costs $500 to ship a car from Japan, G.M. needs only to trim $1,500 from its current costs to match the Japanese.

Leftist insurgents have taken the initiative in the four-year-old civil war, killing more than 800 Salvadoran soldiers in the last two months, capturing 400 and greatly extending the country's contested zone, according to United States military advisers here. The advisers said that since the summer, when they interpreted a lull in fighting as a sign that the army had improved its fighting ability, the guerrillas had launched attacks against more than 60 towns from central El Salvador to the Honduran border. The fighting since September, they said, has affected nine of the country's 14 provinces. Army's Problems Persist The advisers added that the insurgents often met little resistance from the Salvadoran Army. The army, they said, seemed to be struggling with the same problems that have plagued it over the last four years: low morale, weak logistical support and divisions among its commanders.

The Israeli Army announced today that ''a huge explosion'' had occurred at dawn at two buildings used by Israeli security forces in the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre. The Israelis closed the Lebanese coastal road and dispatched rescue teams. There were no indications of the extent of casualties.

In an expression of concern over extensive imports of Japanese cars, the House of Representatives approved a bill today that would require imported cars to be built with a substantial component of American parts and labor. The legislation, approved by a vote of 219 to 199, would take effect in 1987. It is aimed chiefly at Japanese manufacturers, whose exports now account for nearly 20 percent of all cars sold in the United States. If the Republican-controlled Senate approves the bill, which is considered unlikely, foreign auto makers would be forced either to increase manufacturing activity here or to reduce sales.