Tonight at sundown, is the beginning of the Jewish Chanukah
holiday. While Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah or Hannukah) is probably
one of the most well known of the Jewish holidays because it occurs
close to the Christmas, but is also a very minor holiday.
http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, is a celebration of the victory of
the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. It also
commemorates the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm
The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great.
Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands
under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain
a certain degree of autonomy. Under this relatively benevolent rule,
many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the
language, the customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much the same way
that Jews in America today blend into the secular American society.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was
in control of the region. He began to oppress the Jews severely,
placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews,
prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the
Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the
altar. Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group
led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a
religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim, the forerunners
of the Pharisees (no direct connection to the modern movement known as
Chasidism). They joined forces in a revolt against both the
assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Seleucid
Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the Temple was
rededicated.

According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the
rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled
by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the
Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night.
There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it
burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil
for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this
miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not
the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.