In academia[?] the humanities are the classics and liberal arts; those subjects supposedly taught for their social and intellectual merit, rather than for pragmatic use.
Subjects classed under the label of the humanities:
... 26 - John F. Stairs, businessman, statesman
October 4 - Frédéric Bartholdi, sculptor
Nobel Prizes
Physics - Lord John William Strutt Rayleigh[?]
Chemistry - ...