title: Cancel the javascript mousedown event on select in IE 8 not working
body: <p>I'm trying to cancel the Javascript <code>mousedown</code> event in IE 8.  I have tried a number of different options and combinations.  I have it down to this pure Javascript example that works in IE 11 and Chrome but not in IE 8.  </p>
  
  <p>I have tried searching everywhere for an answer and nothing appears to work. Please let me know if you have any ideas.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;html&gt;
  &lt;head&gt;
  &lt;/head&gt;
  &lt;body&gt;
  &lt;select id="cmb" onmousedown="cancelEvent(event);"&gt;
  &lt;option&gt;one&lt;/option&gt;
  &lt;option&gt;two&lt;/option&gt;
  &lt;/select&gt;
  &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
  function cancelEvent(e) {
  
    if (!e) e = window.event;
  
     e.returnValue = false;
     if (e.preventDefault)
        e.preventDefault();
  
     return false;
  
  };
  &lt;/script&gt;
  &lt;/body&gt;
  &lt;/html&gt;
  </code></pre>