What is the difference between literature and other subjects, such as history, geography, biology, chemistry, and physics?

The major difference between these two types of subjects is that the first group of subjects deals with ideas that generally cannot be experimented on and falsified while the second group of subjects deals with ideas that can be.

The sciences, in general, deal with ideas that can be subjected to the scientific method.  They can be experimented on and proven false.  For example, if you believe that a heavier ball will fall faster than...

The major difference between these two types of subjects is that the first group of subjects deals with ideas that generally cannot be experimented on and falsified while the second group of subjects deals with ideas that can be.

The sciences, in general, deal with ideas that can be subjected to the scientific method.  They can be experimented on and proven false.  For example, if you believe that a heavier ball will fall faster than a lighter ball, you do not have to resort to theorizing and thinking about it.  Instead, assuming you have the right apparatus, you can drop two balls of varying weights and experimentally determine whether your hypothesis was correct.

By contrast, you cannot really do this with literature, history, and other such subjects.  For example, if you believe that Hamlet is more tragic and more powerful than King Lear, there is no way that you can subject that to an experiment.  You cannot objectively prove that your subjective judgement is correct.  You can give evidence that supports your idea, but you cannot perform experiments that can confirm or deny your original opinion.

Because of this, the first group of subjects that you ask about deals more with opinions than with facts.  There are, of course, facts involved.  The date that India became independent is a fact.  The number of lines in a sonnet is a fact.  However, most of what is interesting about these subjects is opinion.  What makes a sonnet great is an opinion as is the identity of the person most responsible for India becoming independent.  This is different from the second group of subjects that you mention, in which opinions play much less of a role.