What was going on when I was born?

Customarily, June through September is the peak season for household moves - and for the packing, the planning and the angst that accompany them. Americans who are moving this summer face more than the usual share of frustrations. Industry spokesmen call this the busiest moving season in memory, and many interstate van lines are booked a month in advance. ''Last year we could move people on a week's notice,'' said J. Donald Wilson, vice president of advertising and public relations for the Aero Mayflower Transit Company. ''Now if the move is a month away you'd better have a mover lined up.'' Aero Mayflower shipments increased 17 percent and revenues rose 31 percent compared with the first half of 1983, Mr. Wilson said.

The Federal Communications Commission deregulated the nation's commercial satellite operators today, concluding that the market was sufficiently competitive to justify an end to reviews of customer rates. Industry observers said they were not surprised by the ruling nor did they expect to see any rate increases as a result. The decision to ''forebear'' from regulating domestic satellite companies was unanimous. The vote means that companies such as RCA American Communications Inc., of Princeton, N.J.; the Western Union Corporation of Upper Saddle River, N.J., and Satellite Business Systems of McLean, Va., are free to raise or lower their rates, offer new services or discontinue old ones without seeking F.C.C. approval.

The head of New York City's Human Resources Administration resigned yesterday, saying that widespread criticism of his performance had crippled the agency's effectiveness. In a letter to Mayor Koch and at a subsequent City Hall news conference, the official, James A. Krauskopf, defended his three-and-a-half-year tenure at the agency, which serves more than a million New Yorkers and has 25,000 employees. He said that he had accomplished much during his administration, the longest since the agency was created in 1966, but that the numerous criticisms of him were making his job virtually impossible. The most recent charge, by District Attorney Mario Merola of the Bronx, was that the agency had hampered an investigation into reported sexual attacks against children in a day-care center. Mr. Krauskopf has denied the accusations of a cover-up. 2d Resignation This Week ''The effectiveness of the agency would be difficult to improve, given the personalizing of the criticism,'' he said at City Hall. Later, he added, ''I don't have anything to apologize for.''

One of the latest challenges to the New York banks for the consumer's long-term savings dollar has come from a two-story, shoebox of a building on 25th Street in this shorefront community. The building sits between Atlantic and Pacific Avenues, a fitting location for a savings and loan that sees itself serving a coast- to-coast market. The Virginia Beach Federal Savings and Loan Association has only 15 tellers, a dozen potted plants, seven vice presidents and no automatic teller machines. Nevertheless, it is one of several relatively small institutions competing successfully for a share of deposits from out-of-state savers who will trade the inconvenience of banking mostly by mail for higher interest rates. And although a recent rate war on certificates of deposit has temporarily lifted the New York rates - which are competitive with those in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit - still higher rates for a variety of maturities are being offered in some smaller towns.

In camouflage fatigues and pin- striped business suits, veterans of the Vietnam War flocked to a Federal courtroom in Brooklyn yesterday to speak out on the proposed $180 million settlement of the Agent Orange lawsuit. It was the first day of a nationwide series of hearings on the fairness and adequacy of the landmark settlement of the herbicide liability suit. At times it was as much a forum for opinion on the suit as it was an opportunity for veterans and family members to relive some of their wartime traumas. For some, it was a chance to vent their frustration and anger over the Vietnam War itself.

Carl Lewis won his third gold medal tonight in the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, and he had company on the victory stand. Lewis, Kirk Baptiste and Thomas Jefferson finished first, second and third in the men's 200-meter final, giving the United States the first such sweep in track and field in these Olympics. The 22-year-old Lewis, from Willingboro, N.J., led from the start and glided to a 2-meter victory over Baptiste of Beaumont, Tex., his former University of Houston teammate. Baptiste finished 2 meters ahead of Jefferson of Moreland, Ohio, a Kent State University senior. Then they trotted a victory lap, Lewis and Baptiste carrying small American flags and Jefferson draped in a large one. Lewis's time was 19.80 seconds, an Olympic record. Tommie Smith of San Jose, Calif., set the previous record of 19.83 seconds in 1968 in Mexico City. Lewis's time also was the third fastest in history behind the world record of 19.72 by Pietro Mennea of Italy, who finished seventh tonight, and Lewis's 19.75.

FROM the beginning, Michael Kooper had provided all the design cues. ''I didn't want a beach house that was in any way like an apartment,'' he explained. ''I had always wanted to live in a loft. And what could be better than living in a big open space on the ocean? '' ''But I never intended to build it,'' added Mr. Kooper, a consultant in the health insurance business. A friend of his had bought some oceanfront property on eastern Long Island. ''It sort of just happened,'' he recalled. ''I drove up to look at it and just flipped.''

An obituary of Dr. Abraham Lilienfeld yesterday omitted some survivors and the surname of his daughter. He had seven grandchildren. His daughter is Julie L. Meister.

The key to curbing births is the development of free-market economies, according to the Reagan Administration. Its new population policy was presented at an international population conference in Mexico City by James L. Buckley, the president of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and chief of the United States delegation. (Page A1, Column 6.) Carl Lewis won his third gold medal at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad. Lewis, Kirk Baptiste and Thomas Jefferson finished first, second and third in the men's 200-meter final, giving the United States the first such sweep of track and field medals at these Olympics. (A1:2-4.)

The President, if re-elected, won't try to combine a tax rise with changes in tax structuring, Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan told a Congressional panel. In ruling out a tax increase in 1985, he said a balanced budget could be achieved by the end of the decade from additional revenues generated by a steadily growing economy and less Government spending. The Administration revised its forecast of economic growth from the fourth quarter of 1983 to the end of 1984 to 6.5 percent, from the April estimate of 5 percent. (Page A1.) Better credit terms for third world countries were urged as part of a ''new phase of financing'' by Paul A. Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. But credit concessions, he told a Congressional panel, should be made on a case-by-case basis. (D1.)

In the midst of rising clamor over the role of religion in politics, Bishop James W. Malone, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, has drafted a statement that tells bishops they should avoid acting ''for or against political candidates.'' The draft statement, portions of which were obtained by The New York Times, also warns political candidates against trying to exploit Roman Catholic leaders and issues for their own gain. The statement is to be released in final form after the Republican National Convention. Church officials said the 286 Catholic bishops in the United States would get the draft statement this week. Bishop Malone, of Youngstown, Ohio, wrote the statement in his capacity as conference president with responsibility to clarify church policy. Among the conference's chief concerns are nuclear arms and abortion, an issue that has spurred recent debate between church and political leaders.

As Ernesto Canto of Mexico strode around the track of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, a commanding lead in the 20-kilometer walk assuring him of an Olympic gold medal, thousands of his countrymen thunderously cheered him on, ''Viva Canto! Viva Mexico!'' But a handful of people in the Coliseum didn't cheer. They only stared at his shoes. Shortly before the Games began, Canto had stopped wearing Nike athletic shoes, made in Beaverton, Ore., and had switched to shoes made by the Adidas Company of West Germany. Now, in his moment of triumph, he was suddenly worth a lot more to Adidas. It was a victory in the Olympic shoe wars that would never be commemorated with a victory ceremony.