Question

When i set the minDate var to something below 2001, it just won’t go below 2001 for the lower limit.

I’ve tried inserting the minDate value as a string, number, or Date object (as the documentation says you can use any of all 3 types)

Regardless of how i enter the value, it will not go below 2001.

Any Ideas?

Answer 1

That is due to the fact that if you display the year with the option changeYear you must also set yearRange that otherwise default at +10:-10
For example:

$( "#datepicker" ).datepicker({ 
minDate: "-20Y",//go back 20 years
changeYear:true,//show a drop down to change year
maxDate: "+1M +10D", 
yearRange: 'c-100:c+10'//Show up to 100 years before and ten years after in the dropdown
});

fiddle here: http://jsfiddle.net/rUq7M/