I also had same issue .I build it trough this way.I used struts 2 framework.
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function () {
var year = (new Date).getFullYear();
$( "#effectiveDateId" ).datepicker({dateFormat: "mm/dd/yy", maxDate:
0});
});
</script>
<s:textfield name="effectiveDate" cssClass="input-large"
key="label.warrantRateMappingToPropertyTypeForm.effectiveDate"
id="effectiveDateId" required="true"/>
This worked for me.