What was going on when I was born?

For upper-income Americans who have made generous use of certain tax benefits to cut back sharply on their tax liability, there is a new threat to their pocketbooks: the vastly broadened alternative minimum tax. This tax, which is intended to make sure that the well-to-do pay a fair share of the income tax, will strike many more people this year than ever before, including some who may not consider themselves at all well-to-do. Moreover, according to tax advisers who have already made preliminary calculations for their clients, it will strike with greater force. As Herbert Paul, a New York tax attorney, put it: ''I think the American public is in for a rather disturbing awakening on how many of them are going to be affected by the alternative minimum tax.'' Nonetheless, the impact of the A.M.T., as the device is known in accounting circles, will not be as dramatic as one might infer from the anxious conversations heard in executive suites, at cocktail parties and in first-class sections of airliners.

The General Motors Corporation reported today that it earned a record $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 1983, almost nine times as much as in the comparable 1982 period, and a turnaround from three years ago, when the company was reporting losses. For all of 1983. G.M., the nation's largest auto maker, reported record earnings of $3.73 billion, compared with $962.7 million for all of 1982. In 1980, G.M. lost $763 million, its first deficit since the early 1920's. Analysts attributed the rapid improvement in the company's fortunes to restraints on the import of Japanese cars, the ending of rebates, the strong performance of its financing subsidiary and reduced labor and materials costs.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1984 The Economy Paul Volcker said ''it is already late'' for Congress and the Administration to tackle the record deficits in the Federal budget and foreign trade. The Fed chairman said the deficits endanger the economic recovery. Contention about the deficit has worried the business community. (Page A1.) Treasury Secretary Regan also warned about the threat to the recovery, and he cautioned the Fed not to be too restrictive in its policies. (D20.)

The Chinese Government is offering to store dangerous radioactive waste from European nuclear reactors in remote areas of the country in return for badly needed Western currency. The deal could be worth as much as $5.45 billion, according to one European official. Last month, China signed a letter of intent to rent storage space for nuclear waste with three West German companies active in the nuclear supply business, European nuclear officials and industry executives said today. China's prospective deal with these German companies raises serious questions relating to both the danger of nuclear proliferation and the imbalance between the industrialized and developing world. It must still be approved by the West German Government and it would need authorization of the United States if the spent reactor fuels sent to China were originally enriched in America.

The Cuomo administration said today that it would order all grain products removed from grocery shelves in New York State in 10 days and bar their replacement until the products met strict state standards for the presence of the chemical EDB. New York officials said the standards imposed would be far more stringent than those announced by the Federal Government last week. The officials said New York had delayed the action to grant the Federal Environmental Protection Agency time to adopt stricter permissible levels and avoid having varying standards around the country. In a letter to President Reagan today, Governor Cuomo said the Federal rules on EDB, or ethylene dibromide, were ''deficient.'' The chemical is known to cause cancer, alter DNA and adversely affect reproduction in laboratory animals.

In a spectacle of bravery and beauty, two American astronauts flew out, up and away from the space shuttle Challenger today. Free of any lifeline and propelled into the dark void by tiny jets, they became, in effect, the first human satellites. The successful test of the propulsion backpacks - a wireless high-wire act 170 miles above the earth - was an important step toward future operations to repair and service orbiting satellites and to assemble and maintain large space stations. A second test by the same two space fliers, Capt. Bruce McCandless 2d of the Navy and Lieut. Col. Robert L. Stewart of the Army, is scheduled for Thursday morning. They are to practice grappling a large object rotating at the end of the shuttle's mechanical arm, a dress rehearsal for a mission in April to repair a crippled scientific satellite.

GASTRONOMICALLY, the face of New York's Chinatown is changing, with more of its restaurants, markets and food reflecting a new influx of immigrants from Hong Kong. For almost a century this downtown Manhattan neighborhood was an enclave of Americanized Cantonese restaurants, teahouses and groceries - the legacy of the first immigrants from the Toisan suburb of Canton. In the past year, however, it has become an area of much greater culinary breadth. Now, true classical Cantonese cooking can be found here. The sophisticated dishes of Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou have become commonplace, the arcane cuisines of China's Hakka and Chiu Chow people are available, and food markets - in an attempt to satisfy the de Recipes are on Page C6 . mands and tastes of the new immigrants - import a variety of products ranging from whole birds' nests to exotic spices.

A picture caption in some copies yesterday, with an article about Congressional debate on United States policy in Lebanon, misidentified one member of Congress. The Representative, who said, ''This is not the time to be sending the wrong signal,'' was William S. Broomfield.

An article in Metropolitan Report Thursday about the English Speaking Union misstated the national membership. It is 29,983.

The Talk of Torrington TORRINGTON, Conn. - With galoshes pulled over the bottoms of his jeans, Paul Schroeder walked through the Warner Theater here on a rainy night recently, checking for leaks. Mr. Schroeder, who has been joining in an effort to renovate the Art Deco movie theater, lugged a bucket full of rainwater to a sink, emptied it and put it back in the lobby to catch drips. ''Torrington,'' he said, reflecting on his home city, ''has the distinction of having nothing. But everybody who lives in it wants to stay here.

News Analysis WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 - President Reagan's abrupt decision to redeploy the United States Marines from the airport in Beirut marked the first time the the Administration has been forced to reverse itself in a key foreign policy area. On one level, the redeployment of the marines to ships off the Lebanon coast eliminates a festering political problem for Mr. Reagan. The President's senior advisers have long known that public support for keeping the marines in Lebanon has dropped precipitously in recent months. But on another level, Mr. Reagan's action raised the possibility of an even deeper American military involvement on behalf of the government of President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon, with obvious perils abroad and at home.

''That may have been one small step for Neil, but it's a heck of a big leap for me.'' - Capt. Bruce McCandless 2d. (A1:2.)