From Deskchairs on the Titanic:
A Talmudic debate occurred at one point between the schools of Hillel and Shammai. The latter believed that we should light all eight candles and then each day, light one less. Hillel argued for the opposite: light one candle, then two the next night and so on. He won the debate. Chanukah would be a much darker and more deliberate holiday had Shammai won.
Hillel was a famous Jewish scholar. I’m glad he won the argument. Else, Chanukah (Hanukkah, et al) would be a holiday that gradually got darker instead of brighter.