[typescript] Declaring an HTMLElement Typescript

Okay: weird syntax!

var el: HTMLElement = document.getElementById('content');

fixes the problem. I wonder why the example didn't do this in the first place?

complete code:

class Greeter {
    element: HTMLElement;
    span: HTMLElement;
    timerToken: number;

    constructor (element: HTMLElement) { 
        this.element = element;
        this.element.innerText += "The time is: ";
        this.span = document.createElement('span');
        this.element.appendChild(this.span);
        this.span.innerText = new Date().toUTCString();
    }

    start() {
        this.timerToken = setInterval(() => this.span.innerText = new Date().toUTCString(), 500);
    }

    stop() {
        clearTimeout(this.timerToken);
    }

}

window.onload = () => {
    var el: HTMLElement = document.getElementById('content');
    var greeter = new Greeter(el);
    greeter.start();
};