On This Day: December 5th

The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.

Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.

Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

The 6.8 Mw Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.

Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.