What was going on when I was born?

An article in the sports section Jan. 13 gave an incorrect translation of the name Palo Alto, which means ''tall tree.'' The article also incorrectly spelled the name of a San Francisco Supervisor, Quentin Kopp, and increctly stated the derivation of the name of Menlo Park, Calif. It received its name from two settlers from Menlough, Ireland.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1985 International The President said he views arms - control negotiating commitments made with the Soviet Union in Geneva ''with the utmost seriousness.'' Mr. Reagan said he had ''no more important goal'' in his second term than to reduce and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons. (Page A1, Column 5.) Kim Dae Jung would be imprisoned if he returns to South Korea from the United States as planned in early February, according to a senior adviser to President Chun Doo Hwan. The adviser, Choi Chang Yoon, said the exiled opposition leader could not be treated ''as a politician - he is a revolutionary.'' (A1:3-5.)

Closing with an autumn rebound, the American economy expanded at a 3.9 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, giving it a 6.8 percent gain for the year, its best performance since 1951, the Commerce Department reported today. The vigorous expansion was accompanied by a steadily declining inflation rate. At 3.7 percent, the rate for the year was the lowest since 1967. A buoyant President Reagan promptly seized on today's figures to assert that his economic policies had been entirely vindicated.

''The purpose of this budget isn't just to satisfy our accountants and raters.

The temperature climbed to just below freezing yesterday, bringing some respite from the record chill that has enveloped the New York metropolitan area. But public and private agencies continued to struggle with problems brought on by the weather. New York City's Human Resources Administration reported another record influx at shelters for the homeless, with 19,269 people seeking refuge on Monday night following a day that earlier recorded a low of 2 degrees below zero. About 11,800 of those people were from families displaced from their homes by heating failures or other cold-related difficulties. Deputy Administrator Jack Deacy said everyone would be accommodated.

A chart in Business Day Monday showing the growth of Individual Retirement Accounts misidentified the latest figures. They were for the first nine months of 1984.

His card says: ''Have Bloodhounds - Will Search. Day or night. Free.'' The card belongs to David Onderdonk, a 63- year-old retired utility worker. Late in life he became a sleuth, a scourge of fugitives, a guardian angel to lost children and generally a celebrity here in rural Rensselaer County - after he decided that the Albany area needed the services of a top-notch bloodhound.

Two days of record-breaking cold damaged nine-tenths of Florida's orange and grapefruit crop, state officials reported today. They said it was one of the most widespread blows against the industry in its history. Doyle Conner, the Florida Secretary of Agriculture, said that when the losses are totaled, this week's freeze ''may cause as much or more damage to Florida's citrus and vegetable industries'' as the billion-dollar freeze 13 months ago. The 1983 freeze, however, did not do much harm below the 11 counties at the northern border of the citrus belt. This week's freeze numbed even the southern edge of the belt, on a line from Palm Beach to Naples.

A list accompanying an article about Arab banks operating in New York, printed in Business Day on J10, omitted Arab Bank Ltd. It had assets of $405 million on June 30.

President Reagan said today that he viewed the United States arms-control negotiating commitments made with the Soviet Union in Geneva ''with the utmost seriousness.'' In a statement issued after his first meeting with his new arms-control negotiating team, Mr. Reagan said he had ''no more important goal'' in his second term than in reducing and ultimately eliminating nuclear weapons. ''I also want to emphasize that we are determined to achieve a good agreement - an agreement which meets the interests of both countries, which increases the security of our allies and which enhances international stability,'' Mr. Reagan said in the written statement. Pledges 'Concrete Ideas' He pledged that once the three-part negotiations begin, ''the United States will have concrete ideas to put on the negotiating table.'' He added that ''we hope the Soviet Union will follow a similar constructive approach.''

President Reagan today lent his support to one of the largest anti-abortion marches ever in the capital, telling tens of thousands of demonstrators that the tide of history was with them. The crowd, which the police estimated at 71,500 people, filled Pennsylvania Avenue for 15 blocks on a windy and bitterly cold day. ''I feel a great sense of solidarity with all of you,'' Mr. Reagan said. ''The momentum is with us.''

Governor Cuomo today proposed a $38.8 billion state budget that calls for an 8 percent increase in spending combined with a broad range of personal income-tax cuts. ''The purpose of this budget isn't just to satisfy our accountants and raters,'' Mr. Cuomo said in the formal presentation of his budget to legislators in the Capitol. ''Its purpose must be to improve the condition of people's lives.'' At the centerpiece of the Governor's budget for the fiscal year starting on April 1, according to his aides, is a call for $2.1 billion in personal income-tax cuts and a balanced budget. 'Honestly Balanced' ''It is a budget that is carefully and honestly balanced,'' Mr. Cuomo told the members of the 208th State Legislature, who gathered in the elaborately paneled chamber once used by the State Court of Appeals. ''It is balanced arithmetically. But it is balanced geographically, politically and socially as well.''