What was going on when I was born?

The House of Representatives voted today to admit possibly several hundred thousand aliens to the United States as temporary workers to harvest fruit and vegetables. By a vote of 228 to 172, the House approved a proposal to create a special foreign-worker program for producers of perishable crops. The proposal was offered by Representatives Leon E. Panetta, a California Democrat, and Sid Morrison, a Washington State Republican. It was strongly supported by farmers, food processors and agricultural officials of some states.

Because of an editing error, a passage in an article yesterday on a treatment for genital herpes incorrectly suggested the availability of the drug Zovirax for oral use. As noted elsewhere in the article, oral use awaits approval of the Food and Drug Administration, which is is still evaluating the treatment.

Four days before the filing deadline, the number of applicants for two coming vacancies on New York's highest court, including the position of chief judge, is ''much too low,'' the chairman of a special judicial screening panel said yesterday. The turnout has been so disappointing that the panel has extended the deadline to June 28, according to the chairman, Mendes Hershman, head of the Commission on Judicial Nomination. Mr. Hershman, citing the confidentiality requirements under state law, would not disclose how many applications had been received so far for the seats on the tribunal, the State Court of Appeals. The number of applicants for the two vacancies has increased in the recent days, he said, but the total is still expected to be substantially lower than the number last year, when there was only one seat on the court open.

O tell me all about Anna Livia! I want to hear all about Anna Livia. Well, you know Anna Livia? Yes, of course, we all know Anna Livia. FOR those who do indeed know Anna Livia, or who want to hear more gossip about A.L.P. (and her husband H.C.E. also known as Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker and Here Comes Everybody and Hush! Caution! Echoland!), or who would like to eat a kidney for breakfast (vicariously, of course), or take a walk along the strand (while sitting down) or want to hear about a Molly who would rather avoid books ''with a Molly in them,'' the place to be tomorrow is Symphony Space.

The Kremlin's spokesman said today that Moscow favored the idea of a Soviet-American summit conference, but that the timing would depend on the preparation of issues to be discussed. The spokesman, Leonid M. Zamyatin, head of the Communist Party Central Committee's International Information Department, spoke to reporters here before President Reagan's news conference in Washington. Echoing American insistence that any meeting of the two countries' leaders should be well prepared, Mr. Zamyatin said such a meeting would require ''proper preparation and issues that require the participation of the general secretary.'' Konstantin U. Chernenko, the Soviet leader, is general secretary of the Communist Party.

DOMINIQUE DIENG was confident as his first roller- coaster ride began with the slow clanking haul to the top of the first hill. But as the car began its plunge down the other side, picking up the speed that would hurtle it banking through curves and bucking over bumps and dips, Mr. Dieng's knuckles went white, his eyes closed, and he became quite silent. ''I could not watch it,'' said Mr. Dieng, a computer-science student from Dakar, Senegal. ''Sometimes I jump off the seat, and I thought 'C'est fini.' When I felt the seat again, I couldn't believe it.''

Out of the darkness, five figures moved quietly down a University of Pennsylvania walk, entered a building, descended to a subbasement and broke into a laboratory. What the band of intruders found on Memorial Day was an audiovisual record on 32 magnetic tapes of several years of brain-damaging experiments on monkeys and baboons. The discovery has stirred protests here, embroiled university officials in long hours of explanations in defense of their research and focused attention on new currents rippling through a resurgent, centuries-old movement to defend animals against mistreatment. Since the 18th century, organized efforts have been under way to make more people sensitive to animals' sufferings. Groups such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the National Anti-Vivisection Society have grown with differing emphases, ranging from concerns over the treatment of pets to protests over scientific experiments with any animal.

The leaders of the Soviet Union and its nine closest trading partners concluded their first economic summit meeting in 15 years today, endorsing what they said was a long-term economic strategy. What litle information was provided suggested that, despite declarations of unanimity, the discussions did not always go smoothly. The concluding documents on economic cooperation and international affairs were not immediately made available, but at a news conference Soviet oficials said the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, or Comecon, allies had agreed on measures for further integrating their economies and coordinating their central planning systems. High-Technology Development They said measures had also been outlined for developing high-technology industries in such fields as electronics, microprocessors and robotics. In addition, they said, a new price structure for the sale of Soviet oil to its allies would be put into effect.

''If they're ready to talk, we are, too.'' - President Reagan. (A13:5.)

The International Trade Commission unanimously found today that imports were causing serious injury to American copper producers and that the Government should impose new trade barriers to help the industry. Protection for the domestic copper producers, which operate in the West, could raise the cost of copper and products made with copper, especially electrical equipment. For that reason, President Reagan is expected to come under pressure from copper-consuming states in the Middle West and East to give the producers little or no protection from imports. How he will resolve this regional conflict was unclear tonight. In 1978, trade specialists recalled, when the commission made a similar finding, President Carter refused to grant protection.

Abandoning its struggle to remain independent, the Jewel Companies announced today that it had agreed to merge with the American Stores Company in a $1.16 billion deal that analysts said would form the nation's third-largest supermarket chain. American, a Salt Lake City-based company, which like Chicago-based Jewel operates supermarkets and drugstores, increased its tender offer by $5 a share, to $75. And Jewel, after two weeks of trying to find a way to avoid a takeover by American, said its board would recommend acceptance to its shareholders. The companies announced that L. S. Skaggs, American's chairman, would be chairman and chief executive officer of the combined company. Sources close to the negotiations between the two companies said that Weston R. Christopherson, Jewel's chairman, and several other top Jewel officials would not be part of the merged company. Instead, they are to receive hefty severance payments, the sources said.

Stock prices fell sharply yesterday in heavier trading as investors displayed their growing concern over interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average, which was in the minus column throughout the session, finished off 12.92 points, to 1,097.61. It was the first time that the indicator ended below its psychologically important support level of 1,100 since Feb. 23, 1983, when it closed at 1,096.94. Analysts attributed the market's slide mainly to remarks by Paul A. Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who said yesterday that the combined credit demands of the government and the private sector ''have generated disturbing pressures'' on interest rates.