Dmitri Mendeleev presented his periodic table of the elements based on increasing atomic weight on March 6, 1869, in a presentation to the Russian Chemical Society. While Mendeleev's table was the first to gain some acceptance in the scientific community, it was not the first table of its kind.
In the end, the British sale of opium was used as means for  obtaining more land and trading rights from the Chinese, leading to  the devastation of the Chinese government and economy which is why  The First Opium War will be remembered in history as the time when  China was ultimately betrayed by the British.
China vs. Britain. Britain introduced opium to the Chinese people causing 12 million people to become addicted. This led to the Opium War in which China fought Britain. Because the British had superior ships and weapons, they won the Opium War in 1842. The peace treaty was the Treaty of Nanjing.