What was going on when I was born?

The Senate today overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to sanction silent prayer in the public schools. It agreed to vote Tuesday on President Reagan's proposal for vocal prayer. The vote would end two weeks of Senate debate and supporters' fears that Senate roll-call vote is on page B5. the amendment could be filibustered to death. ''I hope we're sort of coming down the final mile,'' said Howard H. Baker Jr., the Senate majority leader, who is the Senate sponsor of the President's proposal. Mr. Baker made the motion to table, and thus kill, the silent prayer proposal, and negotiated the agreement that assured next week's vote on the President's proposal.

Industrial production rose 1.2 percent in February from January, the second strong increase in two months, offering what one analyst called further proof of ''a superb business expansion.'' The February increase in output by the nation's factories, mines and utilities, reported today by the Federal Reserve Board, indicated the economy was much stronger than many analysts had predicted in December. Last month's production was 15.8 percent higher than a year earlier. The February increase duplicated the 1.2 percent rise in January, which had been the best since a 1.3 percent jump last September. All figures are adjusted to allow for normal seasonal variations.

John Glenn, once considered the principal challenger to Walter F. Mondale for the Democratic Presidential nomination, plans to withdraw from the race, top campaign aides said today. Senator Glenn, whose campaign is more than $2 million in debt, has scheduled a news conference here on Friday morning to announce his decision. His aides said he was not likely to endorse either of the two leading candidates, Senator Gary Hart of Colorado or former Vice President Mondale. ''Almost all the advice went in the direction of withdrawing,'' said one of the Ohio Senator's aides, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, ''but the decision was his.''

-West Africa - If southern Africa's optimists are to be believed, the stirrings of political independence for South-West Africa are again in the air. But if the testimony of the diamond mines that stretch through surf and pale desert northward from here are any indication, the economic counterpart of such freedom will prove even more elusive. Oranjemund is a company town, and the company is De Beers, the diamond-mining concern under Sir Harry Oppenheimer that controls not only the diamond production of southern Africa but also the marketing of the stones throughout the world, including the Soviet Union. For the first time in at least four years, De Beers allowed journalists to tour its vast complex here in South- West Africa, also known as Namibia.

A White House guard tonight shot and wounded a man on the sidewalk outside the White House grounds after he drew a loaded sawed-off shotgun, a spokesman for the United States Park Police said. President Reagan was in the White House at the time but may not have been immediately aware of the incident, White House officals said. Larry Speakes, the chief White House spokesman, said the President was informed later of the shooting but did not say when he was informed. The gunman, identified by the Park Police as David Allen Mahonski, 25 years old, of Williamsport, Pa., was taken to D.C. General Hospital, where he was under police guard. A hospital spokesman said Mr. Mahonski was in fair condition with a gunshot wound in the right forearm.

''We could work from now till the end of time and not get all the fugitives, but by targeting the career criminal we can get some of the worst off the streets.'' - Howard Safir, assistant director for operations of the Marshals Service. (A10:4.)

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1984 The Economy The President and Republican Congressional leaders agreed on a package of deficit-cutting measures that would total $150 billion over three years. A third of the package consists of cuts in planned military spending, a third involves cuts in domestic spending and the rest is made up of tax increases that have been backed by Democrats as well. But the overall package did not temper Democratic criticism of the Administration's budget policies. (Page A1.)

Within days, the financial secrets of U.S. News & World Report Inc. will be sent by Morgan Stanley & Company to several prospective buyers. Bidding for the employee-owned company and weekly news magazine will then begin. Beyond the potential profits that a new owner can hope to coax out of the company's three main sources of revenue - the magazine, real estate holdings in downtown Washington and a graphics subsidiary - bidders will be seeking a rare chance to own one of the nation's major editorial voices. ''It's glamour,'' said James B. Kobak, a magazine consultant who specializes in magazine appraisals. This ''glamour factor'' could add $20 million to the purchase price, the analyst believes. Other estimates have ranged as high as $100 million.

Friday FILMS FROM SCANDINAVIA A five-week series of recent Scandinavian films with English subtitles, sponsored by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, opens today at Film Forum 2 with a double bill. ''The Pirates'' is a 1983 Norwegian film about unemployed provincial youths who set up a radio station and come into conflict with officialdom. ''Flame Top'' (Finland, 1980) is a biography of Maiju Lassila, a socialist revolutionary and pseudonymous novelist who was shot in 1918. Film Forum is 57 Watts Street (two blocks north of Canal Street near Avenue of the Americas). Admission: $4.50 ($3.50 for over-65's weekdays before 6 P.M.). Information: 879-9779. INDIAN ART IN PELHAM A show of Indian art of the American Southwest - most of it for sale - opens tonight (7 to 8:30) at the Pelham (N.Y.) Art Center and runs through April 21. Items include more than 45 historic and modern Navajo weavings, 13th-century Pueblo ceramics, Hopi carved and painted Kachina dolls, saddle blankets and a wide variety of jewelry. The gallery is at 153 Fifth Avenue, two blocks north of the Pelham railroad station. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Admission is free. Information: (914) 738-2525. RARE PINTER IN SOHO

The International Business Machines Corporation said yesterday that shipments of its Personal Computer line this year would be triple the number produced in 1983. The company also said it planned to spend $500 million in 1984 to expand its production capacity and conduct further research and development on small computers. The statements, at an meeting for analysts held in Boca Raton, Fla., appeared to confirm industry estimates that shipments of the PC, the PCjr home computer and more advanced desktop models would total more than two million units this year.

President Reagan, attempting to break the legislative deadlock on his budget, agreed today with the Republican Congressional leadership to reduce his request for military spending authority by $57 billion in the next three years. Mr. Reagan's acceptance of the three-year military cutback was part of an agreement reached this afternoon with the Republican leaders on a package to reduce the Federal deficit by $150 billion by the end of the fiscal year 1987. About a third of the overall package consisted of cuts in domestic spending programs, and another third consisted of about $50 billion in tax increases that have won agreement among Democrats and Republicans alike on Capitol Hill. (Page D15.) The slowdown in the projected military spending increase made up the final third of the budget reduction package.

After Nancy Moore and Roger Engels were married, Mr. Engels wanted to return the telephone he had been renting in his old house. The couple, who live in Fredericksburg, Va., found that the nearest A.T.& T. Phone Center Store that would accept such returns was in Springfield, a suburb of Washington, D.C., more than 40 miles away. So the couple drove to Springfield one Saturday recently, only to arrive in midafternoon just after the store had closed for the day. Mr. Engels kept the phone in the trunk of his car and eventually managed to bring it in when returning from Washington's National Airport after a business trip. ''It's been fairly frustrating,'' Miss Moore said. Such frustrations have increased since the breakup of the Bell System on Jan. 1. By many accounts, the impact has been felt most by those outside the major cities, who now have to travel long distances to obtain some services.