Embarassing GROUP question

Hi all,

I'm a recent MySQL convert, and I am having some difficulty with
syntax on grouping a table by a foreign key and returning only the
newest entry that matches. In MySQL, you can do something like

event_log
------------
id
event_type
event_date
meaningful_data


SELECT
    meaningful_data,
    event_type,
    event_date
FROM
    event_log
GROUP BY
    event_type
ORDER BY
    event_date DESC



And this would return back the most recent event and meaningful data
for each event type. When I try this in postgres, I get errors about
either grouping by id or using id in an aggregate function. I am
afraid if I use it in an aggregate function, it will disrupt the sort
order I am attempting, and if I group by it, I no longer get the most
recent data for each event type, but I get every event. How would I
accomplish this is postresql? Is there some aggregate functions that
help with this, or should I be trying a different method altogether?
Grouping feels pretty different, and I suspect closer to standards, in
postgres. Unfortunately, my mind works (for the short term) in mysql.
Will someone please give me some pointers?

Thanks!
Corey