What was going on when I was born?

News Analysis WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 - When it was formed last July, the commission on Central America was charged with developing both a rationale and a political consensus for the Reagan Administration's program of military and economic aid to the region. Today, it appeared that the commission headed by former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had succeeded in providing the rationale but had been of minimal help in forging the political support the Administration wants and needs. ''The commission did what a commission can do,'' said Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the chief United States delegate to the United Nations. ''The fact that its report was signed by quite a diverse group of members ought to be impressive. Whether it will be is another question.''

An article in Metropolitan Report on Dec. 10 about opposition to the building of a movie theater in Southampton, L.I., misidentified a lawyer for the developer. He is William Esseks.

David L. Gunn, the head of Philadelphia's mass-transit system, was named yesterday as president of the New York City Transit Authority, the largest subway and bus system in the country. The announcement was made by Robert R. Kiley, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the Transit Authority. ''In the transit business there are neither miracles nor miracle workers,'' said Mr. Kiley, who has known Mr. Gunn since 1975 when they both worked for the Boston transit system. ''As we have seen in New York there are primarily problems and problem solvers. David Gunn is an extraordinary problem solver.''

The CSX Corporation said yesterday that its board of directors had authorized management to begin a review of Conrail to determine if the company should acquire the carrier. Hays T. Watkins, the chairman and chief executive of CSX, said the company had been asked by the Department of Transportation to review Conrail several times over the last few months. Mr. Watkins emphasized that CSX had not decided to make an offer or proposal for Conrail. The Transportation Department has been eager to find buyers for the railroad, 85 percent of which is owned by the Federal Government. Last week, the Norfolk Southern Corporation, a major competitor of CSX, said that it also planned to make a study of whether it should acquire Conrail.

-CENTURY designs - a 1908 Viennese vitrine, a 1909 California hall bench and a stained-glass door from a house in Buffalo - commanded the same fierce bidding at auction last year that more venerable 18th-century antiques did. These prices constituted the single most important trend for collectors in last year's auctions of decorative arts, more than a decade after the revivals began of Art Deco, Arts and Crafts and architect-designed turn-of-the-century furnishings. Quality, not age, became the overriding reason collectors coveted scores of period decorations, paying record prices. In sales around the world throughout 1983, wares too young to be classified antique were collected as if they were. This was seen in virtually every area of furnishings, even spoons.

Administration officials said today that President Hafez al-Assad of Syria had agreed to receive President Reagan's special Middle East envoy, Donald Rumsfeld. The meeting would come at a time when the United States attaches importance to better relations with Syria as a way of resolving the Lebanese crisis. The talks would also be the first detailed discussion between a high-ranking American and the Syrian leader in months. When Mr. Rumsfeld visited Damascus last month after taking the assignment as special envoy, he met only with Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam. Stability Still Held Possible A White House official said there was a consensus within the Administration that there was still a possibility of putting into effect a series of military and political steps in Lebanon that would promote stability and eventually create conditions allowing the United States Marines to leave.

''Our task now, as a nation, is to transform the crisis in Central America into an opportunity: to seize the impetus it provides and to use this to help our neighbors not only to secure their freedom from aggression snd violence but also to set in place the policies, processes and institutions that will make them both prosperous and free.'' - The report of the President's commission on Central America. (A16:6.)

The Manhattan District Attorney called yesterday for an end to nighttime ''superstar'' concerts in Central Park to help prevent the kind of violence that followed last summer's appearance by Diana Ross. The statement led to a public disagreement between the District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, and Mayor Koch, who suggested that such decisions were the province of the Parks Department. In a news conference at his office at 1 Hogan Plaza, Mr. Morgenthau said concerts by superstars like Miss Ross should be held only during the day, when crowds are easier to control.

A Soviet-Cuban challenge in Central America has ''importantly engaged'' United States security interests, according to a bipartisan Presidential commission. In a 132-page report, the commission proposed quick new infusions of military aid to El Salvador and a broad five-year, $8 billion economic aid program for the region. (Page A1, Column 6.) No bipartisan consensus on policy toward Central America was generated immediately by the recommendations of the Presidential commission, according to members of Congress. Republicans backed most recommendations, while Democrats generally deplored what they consider overreliance on military aid. (A20:1-2.)

Under this heading, The Times amplifies articles or rectifies what the editors consider significant lapses of fairness, balance or perspective. An article in Business Day yesterday reported the General Motors Corporation's decision to consolidate its auto manufacturing in two units, a large-car group headed by Robert C. Stempel and a small-car group headed by Lloyd E. Reuss.

As president of Texaco Inc. during the 1970's, John K. McKinley was part of a senior management team that had gained a reputation as one of the stodgiest and slowest moving in the oil industry. But since his election as chairman and chief executive in 1980, Mr. McKinley has made a series of quiet, but fundamental, changes in the nation's third-largest oil company. These changes culminated last week when the 63-year-old executive, with lighting speed, marshaled Texaco's vast financial resources into a $9.9 billion offer to buy the Getty Oil Company. Suddenly, conservative Texaco has made itself known as the most aggressive large oil company in the industry, and for his part, Mr. McKinley has made clear a conviction that Big Oil can become even larger.

A group headed by prominent business and labor leaders has prepared a report proposing ambitious new Government institutions to restore industrial growth and competition. The members, who are primarily identified with the Democratic Party, urge the formation of a top- level board of business, labor and Government officials that would seek a consensus to guide the country's industrial development. They would also create a governmental bank, starting with $5 billion in capital, that would make loans to companies and industries to put the board's objectives to work. The study is the latest in a series of so-called industrial policy proposals that have the aim of reversing a decade-long erosion of American productivity growth and competitiveness in world markets. The concept was first defined in 1980 with the Carter Administration's industrial revitalization program.