History education ordinarily faces a relativist slant, if not by the monotonous nature of the course. Hence, educators are continuously in pursuit for a better teaching strategy to keep the class interesting. The main goal of this study was to 'bring history to life' through a mobile application powered by augmented reality that can provide an immersive storytelling experience on the American colonisation period in the Philippines. Outlined as a second quarter lesson in K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum for Social Studies by the Department of Education, the historic augmented reality application (HARA) depicts the: (1) Battle of Manila Bay; (2) Mock Battle of Manila; and (3) First Shot in Philippine-American War. Through a participatory approach, co-designers evaluated HARA in terms of pedagogical value (knowledge acquisition, acceptability, motivation, and attitude), and quality standards (effectiveness, satisfaction, and efficiency) through a usability inspection method. The iterative nature of the project development via a co-design approach with end users revealed early bugs, shortcomings, and possible improvements on the app. The rest is history!