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Events on Wednesday 24 October 1860 1
1860Anglo-French Forces Capture Beijing and Burn the Summer PalaceSecond Opium War ends with the Convention of PekingBritish and French troops occupied Beijing in October 1860 and, in reprisal for the killing of captured envoys, looted and burned the Old Summer Palace. The Qing government subsequently signed the Convention of Peking, ending the Second Opium War, ceding Kowloon to Britain and legalising the opium trade. The destruction of the palace remains a potent symbol in Chinese historical memory.