What was going on when I was born?

A Steadying of Food Prices Because agriculture is the nation's biggest industry, the prices that farmers get for their crops and livestock influence not only the cost of food but, directly or indirectly, just about everything else as well. So everyone but food producers should be pleased when the monthly index of average prices received by farmers and ranchers is released by the Government on Tuesday. It is expected to show that there was no change for January. Last month's index stood at 140 (1977 - 100), and on a December-to-December basis, the farm price index showed a 10 percent drop despite last summer's severe drought. ''We believe the index will show prices of grain, soybeans and other field crops down and those for livestock up for January,'' says John A. Schnittker, a leading agribusiness consultant based in Washington. ''But by the fall, the more than ample feed supplies should encourage livestock raisers to expand production, and we can look forward to less expensive meat next winter.''

Syracuse, undefeated in eight Big East games, today had to overcome one of the toughest defenses it has faced this season. St. John's, playing for the first time in weeks with its 7-foot center, Bill Wennington, pressed and muscled the Orangemen in an impressive performance before losing in overtime, 78-74. The defensive pressure forced five Syracuse turnovers and held the Orangemen under their 81.8 scoring average. The Redmen outrebounded them, 42-33.

S TEAMBOAT ROAD, a name that instantly evokes an image of the Old South, is a historic street, but it is not in Charleston or Savannah. It is in Great Neck, and its patchwork past is apparent to anyone strolling eastward along it from bustling Middle Neck Road to the spot where it ends at the entrance to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. Along the way, the stroller passes indoor tennis courts, mom-and-pop delicatessens, taxi company offices, small industrial plants and commercial buildings, a firehouse, a municipal park and playground, a trendy restaurant and a garden supply establishment. There are many residential stretches, side streets with clusters of modern split-levels, once-grand three-story houses, run- down bungalows.

SALT LAKE CITY A SK any National Basketball Association player who has ever been traded, and he will confirm that between the moment he learns he has been traded and the moment he discovers to which team, there is always a silence between the player and the one breaking the news. Adrian Dantley's life has been filled with such moments. In his first two seasons as a professional, he played for three teams: Buffalo, Indiana and Los Angeles. His third season, 1978-79, he was the Lakers' second-leading scorer and rebounder, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Yet he was traded again. And this time, his most nightmarish vision during that long, silent moment came true: He was traded to the woeful Utah Jazz.

The Victorian-style home on the corner of Cliff and North Bridge Streets in Somerville, N.J., sits on a rise of land where legend says murderers were once hanged. It has long been known to Somerset County residents as the ''house on Hangman Hill.''

A senior Chinese economic official said here today that Peking intended to sign contracts this year to import $1 billion worth of advanced Western technology and equipment. The official, Yuan Baohua, deputy chairman of the State Economic Commission and president of the China Enterprise Management Association, said that 1,000 contracts were involved. He spoke at a gathering of businessmen and bankers organized by the European Management Forum, a Geneva- based business advisory body. ''The imports of foreign capital and foreign technology are now major policies for China's economic construction,'' Mr. Yuan said, speaking through an interpreter.

The Air Force and the Navy would make large gains in a proposed $305.7 billion military budget President Reagan will submit to Congress Wednesday, according to Defense Department documents. The proposed budget for the Air Force has been set at $108.7 billion, a 15 percent growth in real terms, after accounting for expected inflation. The Navy's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will be $101.3 billion, a 13 percent increase, the documents say. In addition, according to the documents, the Defense Department will ask Congress to permit the Air Force to enlist 15,000 more airmen for a total of 610,000. The Navy would add 10,000 sailors to reach 575,000 and the Marine Corps, which is part of the Navy, would expand by 3,000 marines to a corps of 200,000.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. THE American Motors Corporation has always lived a hand-to-mouth existence, but five years into its partnership with Renault, that poverty might be ending. The first step was the subcompact Alliance, which sold like hot cakes last year, bringing American Motors its first quarterly profit since 1980. Now A.M.C. executives are talking about spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop larger, follow-up cars that would capitalize on the popularity of the Alliance and move American Motors into bigger, more profitable markets. ''We can't survive on the Alliance alone,'' says W. Paul Tippett Jr., A.M.C.'s 50-year-old chairman. He may be right - particularly if, as recent

PRINCETON ANEW nonprofit television network here is offering education and training programs to hospitals in the state, enabling personnel from housekeepers to doctors and administrators to learn about professional developments without leaving the workplace. The Healthcare Information Network, which started operating this month, is the first statewide hospital network in the United States to transmit specialized programming by satellite. Although the content is geared primarily to New Jersey's hospital community, the network is soliciting subscriptions from out-of- state hospitals with satellite receivers. In addition to medical topics, the network's programs deal with such issues as Government regulations, hospital mergers and acquisitions, job safety and health care of the future.

OFFICIALS and engineers of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company are delighted by their new commercial. The hum of an engine is heard as a car gradually comes into view and makes its way along a foggy mountain road in Italy. The car stops and the camera focuses on the driver, 85-year-old Enzo Ferrari. ''Every Ferrari 208 that leaves Italy for America leaves on Goodyear radial tires and only Goodyear radial tires,'' a voice says. ''Why? Because Mr. Ferrari wants it that way.''

LEE A. IACOCCA, the chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, is probably best known for the television commercials he has made promoting the company's cars and trucks, but he is also given much of the credit for rescuing the company from the brink of bankruptcy with the assistance of $1.2 billion in federally guaranteed loans. The loans were repaid last year. Mr. Iacocca, who is 59 years old, became chairman of Chrysler in 1979 and under the terms of a new contract is expected to stay with the now profitable company at least until 1987. Q. The first time we spoke three years ago, this company's prospects did not look very good. They do now. How did we get from there to here?

T ARRYTOWN'S Youth Court program, which was created last February and has been operating since October, has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services. Officials say the money will help to insure that the program, the first of its kind in the county, will be a success. The Youth Court is designed to reduce the incidence of juvenile crime by having youngsters under the age of 16 who have committed certain offenses - such as criminal mischief, petty larceny and disorderly conduct - tried by their peers. If convicted, the usual punishment is some form of community-service work, such as cleaning up municipal parks. The sentences are from one to 50 hours. The program, an alternative to Family Court, seeks to divert offenders from the juvenile-justice system while providing them, as well as youths between the ages of 12 and 19 who serve the court as judges, lawyers, bailiffs and clerks, with a knowledge and appreciation of the legal system.