March 31, 1999: "The Matrix" Premieres

Carrie-Anne Moss (left) and Keanu Reeves

March 31, 1999: The Matrix premieres, turning Keanu Reeves from "the guy from Speed," or "Ted from Bill & Ted," into an all-time legend.

The film was directed by The Wachowskis, who then presented as brothers named Larry and Andy. In 2008, Larry made her first public appearance as Lana, making her the 1st major film director to come out as transgender. In 2016, Andy made her first public appearance as Lilly.

The Matrix depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside the Matrix, a simulated reality created by intelligent machines. The plot follows the computer hacker Thomas Anderson (Reeves), who is recruited by rebellion leader Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) into a rebellion against the machines, due to the belief that Anderson is "The One," known as Neo (an anagram of "One").

Carrie-Anne Moss, who played Trinity, another rebellion leader and eventually Neo's girlfriend, once said that she's the first celebrity who gets more recognized when she wears sunglasses than when she doesn't.

The original film was expanded into a trilogy, with The Matrix Reloaded and then The Matrix Revolutions released in 2003. As with the Godfather films, the fans of the 1st film ended up liking the 2nd but hating the 3rd. In 2021, Lana Wachowski made The Matrix Resurrections, without Lilly. Reeves and Moss returned, but Fishburne chose not to, and was replaced as Morpheus by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

By the way, for all you "Real Men" and "Alpha Males" out there: There is no red pill, and you always end up shocked when you see what the actual truth is.

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On the same day as The Matrix, 10 Things I Hate About You premiered, directed by Gil Junger. It's William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew set in a high school in the suburbs of Seattle.

Julia Stiles plays Katarina (Katherina), Heath Ledger plays Patrick (Petruchio), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Cameron (Hortensio).

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March 31, 1999 was a Friday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 87-72 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Orlando Magic, 84-73 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 102-94 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 93-78 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings, 100-86 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers, 5-3 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-4 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.