June 1, 2015

2015Charles Kennedy, Scottish journalist and politician (born 1959)^[†]

Charles Peter Kennedy was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015.

2015Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (born 1938)^[†]

Joan Elizabeth Kirner was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a member of the Legislative Council before later winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Kirner was a minister and briefly deputy premier in the government of John Cain Jr., and succeeded him as premier following his resignation. She was Australia's third female head of government and second female premier, Victoria's first, and held the position until her party was defeated in a landslide at the 1992 state election.

2015Nicholas Liverpool, Dominican lawyer and politician, 6th President of Dominica (born 1934)^[†]

Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool was a politician and jurist from Dominica who served as the sixth President of Dominica from 2 October 2003 to 17 September 2012.

2015Jacques Parizeau, Canadian economist and politician, 26th Premier of Quebec (born 1930)^[†]

Jacques Parizeau was a Canadian politician and economist who served as the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996.

2015Jean Ritchie, American singer-songwriter (born 1922)^[†]

Jean Ruth Ritchie was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way, many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries old British and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads. In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences, as well as writing some of her own songs using traditional foundations.

2015A ship carrying 458 people capsizes in the Yangtze river in China's Hubei province, killing 442 people.^[†]

MV Dongfang zhi Xing was a river cruise ship that operated in the Three Gorges region of inland China. On the night of 1 June 2015, the ship was traveling on the Yangtze River when it capsized during a thunderstorm in Jianli, Hubei Province with 454 people on board. On 13 June, 442 deaths were confirmed, with 12 survivors. The passengers were mostly in their 60s and 70s, and mostly from Nanjing, where the ship started its cruise.