What was going on when I was born?

Markets The Dow Jones industrial average soared to a record in late trading, providing a final piece of evidence, some analysts said, that a long-awaited second phase of the bull market was under way. The Dow gained 14.79 points, to 1,292.62, exceeding the previous record of 1,287.20 set 14 months ago. Part of the day's gain came from technical factors, but it also reflected broad economic signs. Other market gauges also hit new records, and more shares rose than fell, for the 17th session in a row. Big Board volume fell back a bit, to 115.7 million shares. (Page D1.) Treasury bond prices rose sharply as traders and speculators were encouraged by reports that OPEC might cut prices and by a decline in short-term interest rates. (D17.)

A meter reader who walked into the White House says he ''just wanted to see how far I could get.'' And what he got, he decided after 15 minutes just below the Reagan family quarters and a week in a Washington jail, was ''an adventure - a real adventure.'' Robert Latta, a Denver Water Board employee on vacation to see the Presidential inauguration, says he did not know that wandering into the White House on one of the most important days of the Presidential calendar was illegal. But it was fun, he says, and he would do it again, ''only I wouldn't want to break the law.''

Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed today to reach an agreement to overhaul the group's pricing system and planned to meet again on Wednesday. A committee of five oil ministers presented the group with a pricing proposal at the afternoon session here and the group planned to meet for a late evening session. But several ministers who gathered for it soon departed, saying that a number of members had been unable to conclude consultations with their governments. Venezuela's oil minister, Arturo Hernandez Grisanti, said differences remained ''in relation to the margin of differentials'' between OPEC's highest-priced crudes and lower- priced grades. He added, however, that ''there is a possibility to find an agreement.''

Japanese auto manufacturers help insure that the interior of a car is installed properly by taking off the doors, so they will not be in the way, and then putting them back on farther down the assembly line. American auto executives have resisted the technique, saying it is too hard to get the doors to fit right the second time. But there is no argument about doors here, at the former General Motors Corporation assembly plant now operated by New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., a 50-50 joint venture of G.M. and the Toyota Motor Corporation. On the Chevrolet Nova, the product of the new venture, the doors come off and go back on.

The Israeli convoys, sometimes 30 to 40 vehicles long, have been rumbling through the closed-off streets of this ancient port for days. The trucks carry the paraphernalia of occupation: steel cots, prefabricated sheds, even the huge concrete blocks set in the roads to stop suicide car-bombers. The convoys are closely guarded by tanks and by jittery foot soldiers happy to be leaving. The tension has been high in Sidon as the city awaits the departure of the Israeli Army. The Israeli withdrawal from this area, to lines farther south, is scheduled to be completed by Feb. 18. It is the first of three steps of what Israel has said will be the ending of its occupation of southern Lebanon.

A Washington dispatch yesterday about a study by a new coalition on education misidentified Harold Howe 2d, co-chairman of the coalition. He is a former Commissioner of Education.

Taxpayers who bought cars or personal computers since last summer, with the intent of writing off part of the cost as a business expense, may be disappointed to find the tax benefits have been sharply restricted. Under pressure to reduce the Federal budget deficit, and irked by some luxury car dealers who were advertising tax benefits as if they were standard equipment on new models, Congress applied the brakes to business deductions claimed for cars used more for personal pursuits than business. It also applied similar restrictions to computers. Professionals and businessmen motoring around in new luxury sedans or sports cars will also discover the Federal Government is no longer as generous a benefactor in helping subsidize the extra comfort and style with tax breaks. ''If the car you bought was an expensive car, you're going to find the tax benefits reduced, and if you don't use your car or computer more than 50 percent for business you're going to find the tax benefits reduced,'' said Robert M. Brown, a tax partner in the Washington office of Peat Marwick, a major accounting firm.

The United States Steel Corporation yesterday reported income of $29 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $983 million in the fourth quarter of 1983. For the year, U.S. Steel said it earned $493 million, or $3.52 a share. That compared with a loss of $1.16 billion in 1983, when the company was shutting down outmoded capacity and streamlining operations. Analysts Less Pleased The company expressed satisfaction with the results, but analysts were less pleased with the fourth- quarter performance, pointing out that extraordinary items such as a profit from the sale of assets buoyed the bottom line.

International The leak of methyl isocyanate at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, on Dec. 3 was discussed publicly for the first time by a dozen workers and supervisors who were at the plant before and after the worst industrial accident in history, which killed at least 2,000 people and disabled 200,000. None of the workers said they knew that methyl isocyanate, which is more toxic than cyanide, could kill many people quickly. (Page A1, Columns 1-2.) A doubling of military aid to Peru next year will be sought by the Reagan Administration, State Department officials said. While struggling with crushing economic problems, Peru's democratic Government has also been battling a guerrilla movement that has terrorized parts of the country for several years. (A4:1-3.)

An article in Business Day on Saturday about the trial of R. Foster Winans incorrectly reported testimony by Peter N. Brant, a former stockbroker, about funds withdrawn from the accounts of David W. C. Clark, a client of his at Kidder, Peabody & Company. Mr. Brant testified that he was aware that the client contended Mr. Brant had stolen the money. The testimony did not suggest that the theft was Mr. Clark's.

New York City is only about $25 million short of what it is counting on in new state money, the city's Budget Director told surprised legislators today. The official, Alair A. Townsend, even suggested a way to provide the money that would cost the state nothing. ''It's certainly a far better position at this time of year than we've ever been in,'' she said after testifying at a joint legislative budget hearing. Simultaneously, the Democrats who control the State Assembly proposed a major change in business taxes - a two-year reduction of 3 percentage points, to 7 percent, in the corporate franchise tax.

About 12:40 A.M. on Dec. 3, a worker at the Union Carbide pesticide plant here went to investigate a growing leak of methyl isocyanate. As he stood on a concrete slab above three large, partly buried storage tanks holding the chemical, the slab suddenly began to shake beneath him. ''There was a tremendous sound, a messy boiling sound, underneath the slab, like a caldron,'' the worker, Suman Dey, later recalled. ''The whole slab was vibrating.'' He said he started to run away, heard a loud noise behind him, turned to look and saw 60 feet of concrete at least 6 inches thick crack. ''The heat was like a blast furnace,'' he said. ''I couldn't get within six feet of it.''