Of the 5 nobel prize pages, 3 start from the present day, 2 go forward from 1901.
I found a page on filmographies etc which suggest that lists start from the most recent item: http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Wikipedia_talk:Filmographies_and...
A comment on the talk page Wikipedia talk:Filmographies and Discographies raises the fact that this order may have been influenced by the IMDB's filmographies.
IMO lists of prize awards or works are in a sense timelines, and as such should go forwards. what are your opinions?