"John-Baptist Lully (pronounced Lou-Lee) was a French conductor who died before his promising career could run it's course. A music history teacher of mine gave him credit for inventing the conductor's baton. In retrospect that is mostly hyperbole. In the mid 1600's conducting was much different. Instead of waving a baton, conductors pounded the rhythm out with a mace (much like drum majors might carry in a parade). John-Baptiste Lully enjoyed this practice and did so regularly. One day he smashed his foot with the sharpened mace he was using to conduct his orchestra. As often happened in that time, his foot became gangrenous and needed amputation. Lully loved dancing so much that he would not allow the amputation that would likely save his life. He proved his commitment to dancing by dying for it. By the 1700's the mace was almost completely out of fashion for conducting. While he didn't invent the conducting baton, the story of his demise almost certainly sped the search for a better way." A source: https://www.thepiano.sg/piano/read/conductor-killed-conducting-staff-ironic-death-jean-baptiste-lully