Here's a question for you: Do lobsters swim or do they crawl?

An argument over the answer led to what became known as "The Lobster War" between Brazil and France. It began in 1961, when some French fishermen were on an expedition to Morocco, and then decided to head to Pernambuco in Brazil to see if they could catch some highly desirable crustaceans.

They got lucky with the lobsters, but not with international fishing agreements, which prohibited fishing fewer than 12 miles off the coast. But the fishermen refused to back off, even in the face of the Brazilian Navy. They called in the French military for backup.

Again, this is over shellfish. Part of the tension was the fact that France had helped fund some Brazilian infrastructure, leading French President Charles de Gaulle to dig his heels in. He sent in a destroyer-class ship to protect the fishing boats, but Brazil dispatched an aircraft carrier to send the destroyer scurrying.

Soon, a French ship was captured and Brazil insisted that no French fishing ship come within 100 miles off the coast. The Brazilian argument was that lobsters crawled on the surface of the ocean floor, and therefore were Brazilian property. France argued lobsters swam and were therefore free for anyone to retrieve.

This standoff lasted until 1964, when the two countries came to a deal. Brazil extended their coastline protection to 200 miles off shore, but would allow French fishermen to grab lobsters for five years. Incidentally, Brazil was right.

Adult lobsters usually crawl on the sea floor. They typically only swim when threatened. For even more of history's silliest wars, check out the full video.

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