a hash table of event handlers for each element/event pair
		var handlers = element.events[type];
		if (!handlers) {
			handlers = element.events[type] = {};
			// store the existing event handler (if there is one)
			if (element["on" + type]) {
				handlers[0] = element["on" + type];
			}
		}
		// store the event handler in the hash table
		handlers[handler.$$guid] = handler;
		// assign a global event handler to do all the work
		element["on" + type] = handleEvent;
	}
};
// a counter used to create unique