Mad Pride celebrations began when psychiatric survivor activists in London England on seeing a Gay Pride event were inspired to start a celebration of their own. Events in Toronto Canada have been held in honor of the day since 1993. July 14, Bastille Day in France, Mad Pride Day worldwide is celebrated by events acknowledging the creativity, strength and resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity and immense odds. When the Bastille was stormed by the people of Paris France in 1789, rather than the mass of potential political prisoners the people had been expecting to free, their take was only seven people in all. A total of seven freed captives, four counterfeiters, one dissolute aristocrat, and two madmen. Yep, you heard me correctly, two madmen, and therefore we have today what we refer to as Mad Pride Day.

"In 1784, Vincennes (a dungeon) was closed and Sade was transferred to the Bastille in Paris. On July 2, 1789, he reportedly shouted out of his cell to the crowd outside, "They are killing the prisoners here!", causing somewhat of a riot. Two days later, he was transferred to the insane asylum at Charenton near Paris. (The storming of the Bastille, marking the beginning of the French Revolution, occurred on July 14.) He had been working on his magnum opus, Les 120 Journées de Sodome (The 120 Days of Sodom), despairing when the manuscript was lost during his transferral; but he continued to write.:"
~Wikipedia