What was going on when I was born?

The United States has demanded that the Salvadoran Government exile or expel a number of civilians and military officers involved in right-wing death squads, according to Salvadoran political sources. In exchange for meeting the demands, the Administration has promised to increase military aid to El Salvador substantially, according to the sources. The reports were independently confirmed. What will happen if the Salvadorans fail to take action against those suspected of death-squad activity remained unclear.

The battleship New Jersey opened fire for the first time against targets in Lebanon today, hurling 1,900-pound shells at Syrian antiaircraft positions in the mountains east of here. Maj. Dennis Brooks, a Marine spokesman, said the 57,335-ton New Jersey and two other warships began firing at 3:37 P.M., five minutes after a pair of Navy F-14 reconnaissance planes were fired on from Syrian-controlled territory. (In Washington, Pentagon officials said the tour of the New Jersey off Lebanon would be extended until spring, when she is to be relieved by the Iowa, a sister ship. Page A18.

After more than 100 years of corporate life, first as an independent company and then as the manufacturing arm of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Western Electric Company will be dissolved on Jan. 1, A.T.& T. said yesterday. The giant company's people and plants will spread among other divisions of the new A.T.& T. Western Electric has become virtually synonymous with the telephone in America and its manufacturing expertise has long been held up as an example of how to do things right. But its name will survive only in corporate history and as a brand on some - but not all - of the equipment A.T.& T. produces. A newer organization, A.T.& T. Technologies, set up to meet A.T.& T.'s competitive needs after divestiture, will assume Western Electric's corporate charter, its financial obligations and its other commitments, officials said at a news conference yesterday.

Three present and former judges were among 10 men indicted today on charges of corruption after a three-and-a-half-year Federal investigation of the Cook County Circuit Court. The undercover operation, called Operation Greylord, was conducted by the United States Attorney's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the cooperation of local law-enforcement officials. ''Corruption within the Cook County judicial system was something that had been rumored and suspected for many years in Chicago legal circles,'' said United States Attorney Dan K. Webb, calling Greylord the longest undercover operation in United States history. Charge of Taking Bribes Among those indicted by a Federal grand jury were Judge Wayne W. Olson, who was charged with soliciting and receiving $9,530 in bribes from two lawyers, James Costello and Bruce Roth. In addition, it was charged that Judge Olson had an arrangement with Mr. Costello to be paid half the money the lawyer received as refunds from bonds his clients posted as defendants in the judge's court.

The Advertising column in Business Day on Nov. 30 misstated the findings of a survey of company executives on the subject of corporate advertising. A majority disagreed with the statement ''Corporate advocacy advertising is a blatant misuse of stockholder money.''

News session transcript, Page B12. WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - President Reagan said today that the United States would not withdraw its marines from Beirut until the Government of Lebanon took control of its territory or there was ''such a collapse of order'' that no peaceful resolution of the Lebanese conflict was possible. At a news conference, Mr. Reagan defended recent United States naval bombardment and air strikes against Syrian positions outside Beirut. He said that ''we want no conflict with Syria'' and that the retaliation had been limited to ''those who have actually done the attacking'' on United States forces.

An article in The Living Section on Dec. 7 about food gifts for Christmas misidentified a piece of equipment in the Windsor's Choice Home Brewery Kit. It is a hydrometer.

The Reagan Administration's top economic officials have drafted an economic forecast showing moderately strong growth of about 4.5 percent in 1984 and a small decline in the unemployment rate to less than 8 percent. While the forecasters in several agencies largely agree on this outlook, they are worried that the Federal Reserve's tightening of monetary policy this fall may have gone too far by threatening to slow economic growth next year. Some officials warn that a slowdown could become apparent in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That quarter's results will be announced in October, about two weeks before the Presidential election. In 1980, the Fed forced up interest rates just before the election.

The Federal Reserve Board moved today to close what it called a ''loophole'' in the 1956 law that has allowed a growing number of commercial and industrial concerns to enter the banking business by the backdoor. The board, without dissent, approved a regulation that would require a number of companies to either submit to the Fed's jurisdiction and register as bank holding companies, or divest themselves of subsidiaries that the Fed considers to be engaged in banking. The measure could be challenged in the courts by one or more of the companies affected by the rule. These include the Dreyfus Corporation, a major mutual fund company; J. C. Penney, a national retailer; the Beneficial Finance Corporation, a consumer loan company, and the Commercial Credit Corporation, a subsidiary of the Control Data Corporation. Virgil Manningly, a Fed staff lawyer, said dozens of other companies might also be affected.

The Reagan Administration is seriously considering withdrawing the United States from Unesco, State Department officials and American delegates to the organization said yesterday. They said that the proposal is being considered in the State Department and that a recommendation by the department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs is expected soon. Any move to withdraw would need the approval of Secretary of State George P. Shultz and President Reagan. Participants in the discussions said some White House officials were sympathetic to a withdrawal. But other officials cautioned that it was too early to tell which way the Administration would finally decide the matter.

Four of every 10 Manhattan defendants freed from jail last month to ease overcrowding have missed court appearances or have been arrested on new charges, according to figures released yesterday by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. While officials described the Manhattan figures as surprisingly high, the numbers for the rest of the city were said to be within normal ranges. Seventy-one of the 214 released Manhattan inmates, about a third, failed to show up for scheduled court appearances, and warrants have been issued for their arrest. Double the Average The District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said that figure was about double what would have been expected had the inmates been released under customary bail procedures. The 613 New York City inmates released last month were freed after paying 10 percent of their bail or, in some cases, without paying any bail.

The Economy Top Presidential advisers forecast moderate growth next year and a small drop in the jobless rate. The aides are concerned, however, that the Fed's tightening of monetary policy could erode these gains, a development that might become apparent just before the election. (Page D1.) Henry Kaufman of Salomon Brothers presented a grim outlook for interest rates in his 1984 forecast. (D8.) President Reagan appeared to be trying to patch up differences with his chief economist, Martin S. Feldstein. (B12.) The Fed moved to assert control over the nonbanking companies that are starting to offer banking services. It approved a rule requiring such concerns either to submit to its jurisdiction or to divest themselves of subsidiaries engaged in banking. (D1.)