What was going on when I was born?

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1984 The Economy Copyright protection for computer-chip designs was approved unanimously by the House. The measure, passed earlier by the Senate, for the first time protects manufacturers from piracy of the designs, which take years to develop and cost millions of dollars. The designs, essentially patterns of wires and switches etched onto silicon wafers, determine how each chip functions. (Page A1.)

The widow and one daughter of Walt Disney said yesterday that they had informally joined together and hired the Wall Street firm of Dillon, Read & Company to advise them about their holdings in Walt Disney Productions. Analysts said the two might now seek to assert more control over the company. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, Lillian B. Disney and her daughter Sharon Disney Lund said they held a 5.5 percent stake in the company. They said they had hired Dillon, Read to ''consider alternative means by which their interests may more effectively be represented in the policies and direction'' of the company.

Midway Airlines Inc., which was founded five years ago as a low-cost carrier and transformed itself into an airline dedicated to the business traveler, is coming full circle, in a sense. On Monday, Midway will introduce a low-cost, no-frills service called Midway Express, using planes, equipment and about 300 employees from Air Florida under a reorganization plan for that carrier that was approved last month by a bankruptcy judge. In 1982 Midway's management, arguing that large carriers were matching its low fares and jeopardizing its survival, decided to move away from its no-frills approach and cater to the executive traveler, offering wider seats and better food and service. So why does the carrier, which began its operations out of little-used Midway Airport in Chicago, think its original formula will work now?

President Reagan, responding to campaign charges by Walter F. Mondale, today went beyond his previous position and promised to oppose cuts in Social Security benefits for future as well as current retirees. Mr. Reagan's inclusion of ''future recipients'' went further than a statement he made in the debate Sunday with Mr. Mondale, his Democratic opponent. Mr. Reagan said then that he would oppose any cut in benefits ''to the people now getting them.'' The statement today, which the White House denied was a departure from the President's basic position, was issued by his spokesman, Larry Speakes, along with an accusation that Mr. Mondale, in campaign charges this morning, was engaging in ''demagoguery'' and attempting to ''frighten the elderly.'' Mondale Continues Attack In Cincinnati Mr. Mondale, noting Mr. Reagan's statement on Sunday, said the White House planned to cut Social Security benefits for those not now receiving them. After the White House statement, Mr. Mondale continued criticizing Mr. Reagan regarding his intentions on benefits. (Page A20.)

''Father in Heaven, we are here under duress, but we imposed this on ourselves.'' - The Rev. Richard C. Halverson, the chaplain, opening the Senate Tuesday. (A22:4.)

An agreement governing labor relations and salaries over the next two years was signed today by Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez and representatives of employers and Socialist unions. Thus, Mr. Gonzalez, a Socialist, won some breathing space for the Government's attempt to overhaul Spanish industry in preparation for the expected Spanish entry into the European Economic Community within 15 months. Barring any breakdowns, the pact will also cover Mr. Gonzalez through scheduled general elections in 1986, further assuring what analysts here are already saying is his almost certain re-election. Pragmatism Reflected By holding wage rises below the inflation rate and by moving toward making it easier for employers to dismiss workers, the pact tends to favor business interests. It reflects the pragmatism of Spain's Socialist Government and falls in step with the recent willingness elsewhere in Europe, especially in France and West Germany, to take on entrenched unions.

With the clang of a bell and the toot of a horn, the first regular trolley service since 1950 began here today as Buffalo opened 1.2 miles of its rapid-transit system through the downtown shopping district. Pairs of cream-colored cars banded in stripes of yellow, orange and brown, and powered by overhead lines, began shuttling Buffalonians on Main Street at 10 A.M., past a 19th-century, gold-domed bank building, past the sand-colored facade of L. L. Berger's department store and the empty marquee of the Century movie house. The original plan was for a major subway system to serve a vigorous urban area, but several circumstances forced local officials to rein in their earlier plans. In recent years Buffalo has suffered a rapid economic decline and a dramatic loss of population. At the same time, the Federal Government has shown an increasing reluctance to finance expensive new mass-transit systems.

A Washington dispatch yesterday on factual errors by President Reagan and Walter F. Mondale in their debate misstated the amounts involved in Federal housing programs. When Mr. Reagan entered the White House the budget for Federal housing was $873 million; in the fiscal year 1983 the Reagan Administration sought $445 million and Congress approved $633 million.

THEY are the culinary equivalent of rock stars, the vaudevillians of the cooking world. Clutching copies of their latest publications, armed with a set of Sabatier knives or a favorite wire whisk, they hop in and out of airports and rental cars, sleep in unfamiliar beds and cook in strange kitchens, facing sometimes critical, more often adoring audiences. They are the traveling cooking teachers who spend a good part of each year on the circuit, demonstrating techniques and recipes in thousands of professional and private kitchens across America. The demonstration cooking classes given by Paula Wolfert, Madeleine Kamman, Jacques Pepin, Diana Kennedy, Jack Lirio and dozens of other well- known food writers, cooks and teachers may lack the elaborate production numbers, the visionary fervor and the mass-audience hysteria of the Jacksons' ''Victory Tour.'' But in its own quieter way, the culinary roadshow evokes a sense of something special and magical, with new rhythms and ideas, new tastes and techniques. From Portland, Me., to San Francisco, with stops in Alaska and Hawaii, there is a perceptible charge in the atmosphere, a shiver of excitement among local food lovers, when one of these entertainers comes to town.

WITH the price of shrimp reaching, and often exceeding, $7.50 a pound, these crustaceans are being spoken of by household cooks with a reverence once reserved for filet mignon. And yet for ease and speed of cooking and for the variety of seasonings and presentations they can support, shrimp on the table represent money well spent. The taste of shrimp is at once delicate and robust. Boiled in their shells for about a minute, then allowed to cool in their cooking water, they can be shelled and eaten unadorned, with a squeeze of lemon or with almost any spice, herb or condiment that pleases the palate. Garlic, onion, Sherry, Cognac, dill, tarragon, basil, mustard, curry, Worcestershire, red pepper and Chinese black bean - use one or many, and the resulting dish will still resolutely proclaim itself shrimp. As an added attraction, shrimp shells, which add little to their weight, can be boiled to make stock. Since shrimp can be found in virtually all waters, the cuisines of most maritime nations offer hundreds of ways of serving them.

Interest rates declined yesterday for the third consecutive day, with traders and investors encouraged by recent declines in overnight interest rates, which they assume are inspired by an easier Federal Reserve monetary policy. From the highest levels of last week, Treasury bill rates have fallen about an eighth of a percentage point, with the new three-month issue selling yesterday at an average of 10.11 percent. Treasury note and bond yields, meanwhile, have fallen about a quarter of a percentage point, with five-year notes yielding 12.23 percent, down from 12.49 percent. Enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve's apparent willingness to see short-term interest rates decline has been tempered, however, by the prospect of a heavy supply of new Treasury notes and bonds. Government securities dealers expect the Treasury to auction $43 billion of notes and bonds by Nov. 8, though none of those auctions can be held until Congress increases the national debt limit.

No single look dominates the Italian fashion collections for spring and summer, which some people find upsetting. Freedom of choice can be disturbing. What most designers do share is a lighthearted feeling expressed in simple shapes, cheerful colors and an arresting display of new printed fabrics. These all contribute to the gaiety of the warm-weather clothes as the schedule of fashion show openings here reaches the midpoint. Karl Lagerfeld, whose collection of ready-to-wear for Fendi has been considerably expanded this year, is one who approves of the diversity. ''Short is not new - there was short before,'' he said over a plate of risotto after his show today. ''Pants are not new. Long is not new. What is new is how you mix them up.''