Catalyzes the ATP-dependent ligation of histidine to the 3'- end of its cognate tRNA, via the formation of an aminoacyl-adenylate intermediate (His-AMP) (PubMed:29235198). Plays a role in axon guidance (PubMed:26072516). {ECO:0000269|PubMed:26072516, ECO:0000269|PubMed:29235198}. This is the function of ENSG00000170445 (HARS1, histidyl-tRNA synthetase 1).