What was going on when I was born?

Articles in Business Day on Monday and yesterday about surcharges on credit card purchases misstated the expiration date for the prohibition on such charges. It ended at 12:01 A.M. yesterday.

American Airlines is expected to announce today an order for 67 or more McDonnell Douglas MD-80 142- passenger airliners at a cost of more than $1.3 billion. The deal would reflect an impressive surge in fortunes for the Dallas- based carrier and would restore McDonnell Douglas to a solid position in a business from which many experts thought it was inexorably withdrawing. The airliner, previously called the DC-9 Super 80, is a larger version of early-model DC-9's. More than 1,000 of all its versions are in use around the world.

When I say the word 'Pittsburgh,' '' Mayor Richard Caliguiri said yesterday to a Manhattan luncheon assemblage, ''tell me what comes into your mind.'' After a moment of silence, he reconsidered: ''No, please, don't say it. I know what you must be thinking.'' Most of those in the audience of advertising-agency media buyers and corporate executives would later admit to visions of smog, soot and steel mills, although one man said, ''Nothing comes to mind when you say 'Pittsburgh,' absolutely nothing.''

A jetliner with 163 passengers aboard skidded off the end of a rain-slicked runway at Kennedy International Airport yesterday and came to a halt with its nose in a marshy channel off Jamaica Bay. Officials of the airline, Scandinavian Airlines Systems, said that there were no major injuries among the passengers - Americans and Scandinavians - and the crew of 14, but that eight passengers were treated for exposure. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, but S.A.S. officials said the plane, a DC-10, ''hydroplaned,'' or skidded, as it touched down at 4:16 P.M. on a flight from Stockholm via Oslo. ''We were skidding down the runway and you could see the mud flying by the side of the windows,'' said one passenger, Donna Davison of Newport Beach, Calif. ''We knew something was wrong.'' .

''We're not prepared to claim a position of front-runner, but I know in New Hampshire tonight, we buried the label of dark horse.''

CUISINES of the world abound with celebrated dishes based on beans and peas. There is cassoulet of southwestern France, dal of India, black bean soup and feijoada of Brazil, Mexican refried beans and chickpea soup, Middle Eastern hummus (chickpea puree), Spanish cocido (boiled beef and chickpeas) Italian fagioli Toscana (bean and pasta soup) and, of course, New England baked beans. Dried beans and peas have been food staples for centuries. Indians in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico consumed more than a dozen varieties of beans before the European settlers arrived. Many strains were taken back to the Old World, greatly expanding what was already known there. Ample evidence shows that ancient European and Middle Eastern cultures consumed several types of dried white beans. Chickpeas and lentils are mentioned in accounts of food prepared by ancient Sumerians in the Middle East, and on the Indian subcontinent bean soup was being consumed in the first century A.D. In northern Italy lentils and sausages, a traditional dish for New Year's Eve, are supposed to bring riches in the year ahead. Americans should consider eating even greater quantities of lentils, not only on the last day of the year but throughout it. Though lentils may not guarantee your fortune, you will find them tasty as well as being a source of protein that is easy on the food budget.

The Supreme Court today accepted the Reagan Administration's narrow reading of the Federal law that prohibits sex discrimination by schools and colleges that receive ''Federal financial assistance.'' The Court ruled that the 12-year-old law does not bar sex discrimination by a college as a whole. Rather, the Court said, the law affects only those departments or programs that receive Federal aid. Indirect aid, such as Federal scholarship grants that go directly to the college's students, is sufficient to set the law in motion, the Court said in a unanimous portion of the ruling. But the Justices divided, 6 to 3, in ruling that a college's obligation under the law not to discriminate on the basis of sex extends only to those programs that benefit from Federal financial aid. The majority rejected the argument that once the law is set in motion, the entire institution is obliged not to discriminate. Associate Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion.

A cutoff of oil exports from the Persian Gulf region, which has repeatedly been threatened by Iran during its three-and-a-half-year war with neighboring Iraq, would remove more oil from the world market than either the Iranian revolution of 1978 or the oil embargo of 1973. Fears of such a cutoff were heightened this week as fighting intensified. But if it occurred, most experts agree, the result would be far less damaging than the two oil ''shocks'' of the 1970's. Because of conservation, increased oil production outside the Middle East, the stockpiling of vast petroleum reserves in most consuming nations and a sharp reduction in imports, most of the industrialized world has become far less dependent on the oil-rich nations surrounding the Persian Gulf.

NEXT month, I celebrate the 10th anniversary of my motherhood. I'll probably honor this occasion by taking five or six 10-year-old children out for a pizza and then to a roller rink, since experience has taught me that it's easier to let someone else do the cooking, entertaining and cleaning up. This simple lesson took an extraordinary number of party hats and homemade teddy-bear birthday cakes to learn. And while the children are skating around in circles, waving to me periodically as they pass my table on the sidelines, I'll sip a cup of tea and sink into deep reflections about how motherhood is going so far.

Markets Stock prices tumbled after two days of sharp gains when Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan said the Administration would resist Congressional moves toward a general tax increase to reduce the large Federal budget deficits. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 22.82 points, to 1,157.14. (Page D1.) Gold and silver futures prices dropped as oil continued to be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Fears that the Iran-Iraq conflict would cut the flow of oil were a major factor in the recent rise in precious metals prices. (D18.) Spot gold also retreated to below $400 an ounce; the dollar wound up with narrow gains after reversing an earlier decline. (D18.)

For nearly five years, J. David Dominelli ran the high-flying currency trading firm J. David & Company and managed to convince at least 1,500 wealthy customers, including the Mayor of San Diego and a prominent hotel owner, that he was a genius. But some of those who knew Mr. Dominelli and worked with him before he started the now bankrupt enterprise, remember him as a loser. ''Dominelli was losing rather consistently,'' recalled Jon S. Strebler, a vice president for Shearson/American Express Inc., in Medford, Ore., who was the broker for an account in which Mr. Dominelli traded. 'Sure, No Problem' ''It seemed like he would lose $10,000 or $20,000 a month,'' Mr. Strebler recalled. ''I'd kind of wince when I'd have to ask him for another $10,000 or $15,000 to meet a margin call, but he'd say, 'Sure, no problem,' and the money would be there. I couldn't figure out where he was getting it.''

TOO many people still think of dried beans and peas as poor people's food, what you eat when you cannot afford meat and other animal proteins that are the focal point of most meals in today's affluent society. Beyond baked beans (typically eaten with pork or frankfurters), the lima beans in succotash and perhaps an occasional bowl of split-pea soup, the mainstream American diet does not contain many legume dishes. Given their potential contribution to health and nutrition, this is most unfortunate. Judging from recent data on the disease-fighting capabilities of beans and peas coupled with established PERSONAL HEALTHfacts about their nutritional value, it is high time these lowly foods gained a far more prominent place in American meal planning. Beans and peas have been shown to help reduce cholesterol in the blood, control diabetes, prevent constipation and assist in weight control. And they are inexpensive and give you top nutritional value for your food dollar.