Howard Stark

"What is, and always will be, my greatest creation... is you."

- Howard Stark's message to his son Howard Stark was a brilliant inventor and businessman. He founded Stark Industries. During Word War II he worked on various government projects, including the Manhattan Project and "Project: Rebirth". Howard also helped the Strategic Scientific Reserve fight against HYDRA. He constructed Captain America's shield. And after the war he discovered the Tesseract. Later in life, Howard married a woman named Maria and had a son, Tony. He also co-developed the arc reactor with defected Soviet scientist Anton Vanko. Howard founded S.H.I.E.L.D. along with Nick Fury. Eventually, Howard would push Tony away, but did care for his son and had high hopes that Tony would change the world. Howard and Maria were killed in a car accident.

Captain America: First Vengeance
Howard began a demonstration which would showcase Vibranium, a metal discovered by Stark Industries researchers in Africa. Later, Howard met with Colonel Phillips after being attacked by HYDRA assassins. He agreed to join Col. Phillip's newly created Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Captain America: The First Avenger
During World War II, Howard Stark was present at the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow exhibitoon, demonstating new technology that could allow cars to hover. He later appears as one of the scientists helping to create a "super soldier ". Steve Rogers was then used as propaganda and travels to help spread encouragement and hope. In one of his performances, many soldiers were captured by the enemy. He convinced Howard to fly him to the factory, where he helped all the soldiers escape. Howard later supplied Steve Rogers with a vibranium shield and his costume.

When Steve Rogers crash-landed and disappeared, Howard led rescue ships to help find him. Though he did not acheive his goal, he was able to find the Cosmic Cube in the ocean.

Iron Man
Sometime later, he founded Stark Industries with Obadiah Stane, and together they were responsible for the development of the atomic bomb which led to the end of World War II.

Mr. Stark was killed in an accident when Tony was only 17.

Iron Man 2
In it, he is depicted as having been a co-creator of the arc reactor technology, and a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D.. His major role turned out to be as the original creator of the arc-reactor (which powers both his son Tony Stark's heart and his Iron Man armor) and the design of a new element that can stabilize the reactor, Howard lacked the technology to create the element at the time, so he embedded the atomic structure of the new element in the disguised form of the blueprint of the Stark Expo layout. Assuming that future technology will be able to synthesize the material, he films a message for his son Tony and hints that the key is the Expo model. Before the film ends, Howard says that Tony is and always will be his greatest creation. After examining the Expo model, Tony discovers the new element, noting that his father was still taking him to school even after being dead for over two decades. The new element is the key to a safer and more powerful arc reactor, which Tony needs to power the electromagnet protecting his heart without poisoning his blood, as the previous arc reactor had been. Creating a miniature accelerator in his basement lab, Tony is able to synthesize the new element, upgrade the design of the arc reactor to clean his blood, and construct a new armor suit using the new reactor in time for the film's final battle.

The Avengers
Howard Stark's file is among the ones Rogers studies after his awakening in the present days, and he's obviously reported as "Deceased".

Howard's past association with Captain America is referenced when Tony notes that his father talked about Cap a great deal, although Tony initially expresses doubt towards Rogers' abilities until he sees the super soldier in action.