to use the current date for the insert form, set the value of the date picker element to use the date() function:
value="<?php echo(date("m/d/Y")); ?>"
for the update form, set the value to use the recordset binding for the date column:
value="<?php echo $row_recordsetName['HistoryDate']; ?>"
Yes, the datepicker is supposed to trigger when the user selects the date field for input, no, there is not supposed to be a calendar icon.