What was going on when I was born?

The president of the American University of Beirut, Malcolm H. Kerr, was killed here today when unidentified gunmen fired two bullets into his head while he was walking to his office. Soon after the killing of the 52-year- old educator, a male caller telephoned the Beirut office of Agence France- Presse and said the slaying was the work of Islamic Holy War - supposedly a pro-Iranian underground group. Callers saying they were from Islamic Holy War took responsibility for bombing the American Embassy in Beirut last April 18 and the attack against the Marine compound here on Oct. 23. But the police have no evidence that the group actually exists. Dr. Kerr's assailants escaped after the attack. 'We Are Responsible' The Islamic Holy War caller told Agence France-Presse in Arabic: ''We are responsible for the assassination of the president of the American University of Beirut, who was a victim of the American military presence in Lebanon. We also vow that not a single American or Frenchman will remain on this soil.''

A healthy increase in business travel and stiff resistance to profit- eroding fare wars have led airline industry executives and analysts to predict that 1984 will be a strong year. George W. James, senior vice president-economics and finance of the Air Transport Association of America, for example, has recently increased his estimate of 1983 industry operating earnings by about $100 million and is increasingly bullish for this year. He said the industry ended 1983 with operating earnings of about $500 million. In 1982, by contrast, the industry had an operating loss of $733 million.

The Sports People column in some editions yesterday incorrectly identified the magazine that named John McEnroe its No. 1 tennis player. It was World Tennis.

New York and four other states told the Environmental Protection Agency today that they intended to sue it because the agency had failed to order reductions in sulfur emissions that cause acid rain. In a formal notice required 60 days before the agency can be officially sued, the states said they would seek an order from the Federal District Court here to require the agency to rule on a petition New York State has had pending with E.P.A. since 1981. Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Vermont joined New York in the notice, along with three national environmental organizations.

A Boston developer has offered to build a pedestrian tunnel connecting two East Side subway lines in return for permission to put up an office tower that exceeds New York City's zoning rules. The proposal, which was discussed yesterday by the City Planning Commission, would provide free transfer from the IND to the IRT subway lines and give the developer a building 20 percent larger than the rules permit. The local community board has already approved the plan, which calls for a 47-story metal and glass structure at 599 Lexington Avenue, across 53d Street from the Citicorp Center. Under the city's midtown zoning rules, a developer who improves adjacent subway stations can get a bonus of up to 20 percent greater floor area than is otherwise permitted.

Fifty years ago today, one of the most extraordinary periods in the city's history began. Robert Moses, who was to become the Colossus of the city's parks, bridges and highways, began his 26-year tenure as Commissioner of the newly created New York City Parks Department. Today is also, therefore, the 50th birthday of the Parks Department, and in honor of this, the department has mounted an exhibit titled ''Building the Parks: the Art and Architecture of the Robert Moses Era.'' It will open to the public tomorrow at the Central Park Arsenal, Fifth Avenue and 64th Street.

Elvis L. Mason, long considered one of the nation's leading bankers, has resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based Interfirst Corporation, the nation's 14th- largest bank holding company announced yesterday. Interfirst also announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission had ordered it to increase by $54 million its reported third-quarter loss of $194.2 million, already the largest quarterly loss ever reported by an American bank. According to the bank, the S.E.C. demanded the restatement of its third-quarter earnings after rejecting a $54 million tax credit that Interfirst had claimed. According to the bank, the S.E.C. said such a credit would be warranted only if it were certain that the company's future earnings would be enough to make use of the credit.

High Soviet and American officials talked for five hours about virtually every issue that has divided the two countries. Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko of the Soviet Union met in Stockholm where they are attending the 35-nation East-West conference on security in Europe. Aides described the talks as ''serious'' despite a speech Mr. Gromyko made earlier in the day denouncing the United States as the main threat to peace. (Page A1,Column 6.) An American educator was killed in Beirut by unidentified gunmen. Malcolm H. Kerr, the president of the American University there, died after being shot twice in the head. A caller who said he was from a group called Islamic Holy War, took responsibility for the killing and vowed that ''not a single American or Frenchman will remain on this soil.'' (A1:5.)

David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget, has expressed new concern about a comprehensive immigration bill, saying the cost would probably be ''unacceptable.'' President Reagan has publicly supported such legislation. In a recent memorandum to members of the Cabinet Council on Legal Policy, Mr. Stockman listed many ''budgetary and policy concerns'' about the bill, which would offer amnesty to some illegal aliens and penalize employers for hiring illegal aliens in the future. He said he was especially concerned about the costs of benefits that would be authorized for aliens who obtained legal status under the legislation. The memorandum, which was obtained from Administration officials, was written to brief the Cabinet council, which discussed immigration proposals at a meeting this week.

A House Democrat unexpectedly canceled public hearings today into how Ronald Reagan's 1980 Presidential campaign obtained secret papers that had been used to brief President Carter for the election debate. Representative Donald J. Albosta, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Congressional investigation into the affair, said he was acting to avoid ''partisan bickering and a media extravaganza'' in the current Presidential campaign. The investigation, which began last July, is continuing despite the cancellation of the hearings. Representative Albosta said the findings would be released after sworn statements were collected from some of the 200 witnesses questioned by the committee, probably within the next several months.

President Reagan will visit the House of Representatives next Wednesday to deliver his State of the Union Message before a joint session of Congress. So that he is not upstaged, what follows is an annual State of the Apartment Message before a joint session of the Household. LADY and Gentleman of 18A: It is an honor and privilege to address us both, myself included, assembled here in the kitchen to review the accomplishments of 1983 and to consider the 1984 agenda. As we contemplate the crucial projects before us, we may draw inspiration from the maxim first enunciated at this very sink in 1975: The only thing we have to fear is painting itself.

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to decide Thursday to defer the imposition of access charges for residential and small-business telephone customers until at least next year, according to commission and Congressional aides. The charges, beginning at $2 a month for households and $6 for businesses, are scheduled to take effect April 3. The anticipated move by the F.C.C. is believed to be a maneuver to preserve the principle of access charges, which the agency had devised, in the face of legislation to overturn it. The delay, which would remove the sensitive issue of directly raising consumer telephone bills from the political campaign, is thought to be closely linked to a plea to do so today by a group of 32 senators who also support access charges, led by Bob Dole, Republican of Kansas.